Scarlett
by Rondabunny
Summary: Natasha Romanoff has an extraordinary task to recruit a new member to the team of Avengers. Will it be a success or everything ends up sad as in story with Dr. Banner?
1. Chapter 1

**Scarlett**

 **Part 1**

 **by Rondabunny**

Agent Romanoff came into Fury's office and closed the door behind her. She didn't know what her next mission would be but Fury sounded concerned, so she got intrigued as usual when she had something important or extraordinary as being undercover, working for Stark or helping S.H.I.E.L.D. to get Hulk on board.

" _Nat, sit down, please. I have a difficult task for you."_ Fury pushed a tablet towards the agent which she caught and touched screen to see information on this "difficult task" as he noted.

" _Not long ago we discovered that Hydra is trying to produce some new and yet unknown biological weapon. So, we started digging and found some ancient Catholic cathedral on Pantelleria Island near Italian coastline. First, it didn't seem as anything special just a male's cloister on a volcanic island but a week ago things started to get ugly and we interfered. Unfortunately for us a lot of agents died because of a badly thought out operation. Say nothing but good of dead. One of the Hydra's men escaped after blowing up the facility most of which was underground. There was no trace of biological weapon, but we found this specimen."_ The man pointed at the photo of a girl that was on the screen.

" _So what, if I'm a woman, I should babysit?"_ huffed agent Romanoff.

" _I wouldn't describe it as babysitting. I said we didn't find the biological weapon but I'm sure you are familiar with Russian's classical literature better than I am. There's a poet, Pushkin I think his name is and he has an interesting fairy tale that runs like:_

' _Your tsaritsa, sire, last night_ _  
_ _Was delivered of a fright–_ _  
_ _Neither son nor daughter, nor_ _  
_ _Have we seen it's like before.' "_

 _He cited._

" _Wow, I've never heard Pushkin in English, that's amazing how lame it sounds, I got the point, though. What's wrong with her? She seems like an ordinary child. Ok, not pretty but nothing special,"_ the woman concluded looking at the picture.

The child was really ugly: big, droopy green eyes on a square face, a straight nose widening out in the end and small mouth with lower lip a little bit bigger than the upper one. A massive jaw, protruded cheek bones, expansive forehead made her look more like a boy than a girl. Her ugliness was framed with messy, wavy, red lashes of hair. She was skinny and it didn't add much to her appearance either.

" _Play the record. You'll see how ordinary she is."_

Romanoff touched the screen. There was an emergency room on the video. Nothing special, a usual room where she herself been many times before. The girl was lying on the examination table. She was pale and definitely dehydrated. Her right leg was badly injured one inch above the calf because Natalie could clearly see the cracked bone. A doctor and a nurse fussed about plugging the child to different tubes and equipment. The nurse took some blood and then the doctor started examining girl's leg. The kid was obviously in pain but she wasn't crying. The doctor told the nurse to make an injection and after some minutes the child went nuts. Out of nowhere she grew fangs and claws, her eyes turned yellow and she attacked the nurse ripping the artery on her neck. It seemed as if the girl didn't feel pain in her broken leg. When the nurse fell down and the doctor set an alarm the kid jumped on the woman leaving deep scratches on her arms and body. Blood immediately started dripping from the gashes. Only three trained guards managed to tie her up.

" _She killed the nurse and put the doctor in the intense care unit. This is after three days under debris of the blown up cloister without food or water. She couldn't move because a huge stone crashed down on her leg and she was on the third floor underground. Everyone died except this… girl."_

" _What do you want me to do? I'm not a scientist. I don't know how it works. Ask Dr. Banner or Stark,"_ she put away the tablet.

" _We made all the tests. The scientific department has already taken everything they could to do as thorough research as was possible. This girl is here for two days but she hasn't eaten anything. We tried to feed her as prisoners on hunger strike. You know, this isn't a very pleasant process but she somehow manages to throw up everything that gets into her stomach,"_ he said with concern.

" _So, you want me to feed her?"_

" _I want you to recruit her. I need to know how many creatures like her Hydra has created because we found a lot of graves with babies with different anomalies. If a nine year old can easily kill an adult, I need to be prepared for any challenge this planet could face in the future,"_ he emphasized the last words.

" _Why do you think I'm the best for this job?"_ She asked with a note of skepticism in her voice.

" _Only you are fluent in Latin."_

" _That would be a lot of fun."_

Agent Romanoff stood up and left the room.

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Half an hour later she opened a metal door to a small cell where the girl was kept. Natasha put a tray with food on the bed-side table and looked at the girl. The child was lying on a metal bed tightly strapped to it. A tube of the dropper with some kind of liquid was injected into her arm.

" _Salve! Quomodo vales?"_ the woman asked. (translation: Hello! How are you?)

" _Abi!"_ the girl replied hoarsely. (translation: Leave me be!)

" _Do you speak any other language except Latin?"_ Romanoff continued in Latin unbuckling child's feet and hands.

The girl didn't say anything. She slowly pushed her fragile body up, sat on the bed and took the needle out of her slim arm.

" _Wanna eat?"_

" _Some water, please,"_ the kid answered in Latin and Natasha made a conclusion that this girl really doesn't know any foreign languages.

" _What's your name?"_ She asked two glasses of water later. The girl remained silent. She put the glass on the bed-side table and lay comfortably in bed.

They have been staring at each other for some time when Natasha broke the silence.

" _You know it is impolite not to answer the questions if an adult asks you!"_ The woman said sternly.

" _Would you torture me for it?"_ the child asked.

" _Yes, I might!"_

" _I'll ask God to bring me a quick death,"_ she said simply and closed her green eyes.

" _Listen, I don't want to hurt you. Aren't you hungry? If you eat something, I'll go away."_ Romanoff changed her tactics because she understood that a 9 year-old ready to die must be a very hard nut to crack. Children don't have a moral code, they don't decipher between right or wrong unless parents teach them. They are instinctive creatures with bare necessities but this one was different. She hasn't been eating for five days in a row and was ready to die. It wasn't child's behavior at all.

" _I can't eat that food, it is poisoned,"_ the girl replied opening her eyes.

" _What do you eat then?"_

" _I usually eat porridge. It's a white or grey substance a little bit thicker than liquid. It has all the necessary elements that I need. It doesn't have any taste."_

" _Humph."_ Natalie thought what it could be. _"Can you bring semolina but tell the cook to make it really watery and without any sugar or other sweeteners,"_ she ordered the guards in English who copied everything she said since she entered the cell.

" _Yes, agent Romanoff. It'll be ready in fifteen minutes,"_ she heard the guard.

" _Whom did you call?!"_ asked a strange roaring voice and Romanoff realized that the child bared her teeth. Natasha saw two fangs at each jaw. Nails on both hands turned into two inch claws. The girl was ready to attack. It was so unexpected for Natasha that she felt a strange need to spring up and ran out of the room but she suppressed the feeling and moved her arms a little to have the best shot.

" _I asked for the food you eat. They'll bring it in fifteen minutes."_ she told in Latin. _"Why did you attack the medical staff? They wanted to help you."_

Suddenly girl's eyes turned from yellow to green, claws and fangs disappeared.

" _I didn't mean to do any harm. I think they'd injected me with a sedative. I can't control myself when somebody gives me sleeping medicine."_ She confessed. _"I can cure them, though, if you let me."_

" _Cure?! How? One of them died, another is at resuscitation department!"_

" _You sprained your arm, I can heal it."_ stated the girl.

" _What? How did you know?"_

" _I can see the pain. If you let me touch your finger, the pain will go away."_

" _Let's try it,"_ agreed the agent. She wanted to see how it worked.

Natasha extended her hand palm up and the child touched her finger cushion. She was mesmerized by the touch. An overwhelming feeling of warmth, happiness and energy wrapped up her from head to toes. Romanoff was in perfect bliss which she didn't want to stop. On the other hand, black tears streamed down girl's face, dropping on child's sleeping gown and leaving black dusty traces on it. Romanoff made an effort and broke this invisible connection. The child was inhaling air heavily as if she couldn't breathe. A few tears dropped down turning into black dust.

" _Are you alright?"_ asked Romanoff with concern.

" _Why do you have so much pain in you?"_ the girl asked shaking with sorrow.

" _I'm sorry. When you heal somebody do you always feel their pain?"_ This unusual ability of the child surprised and worried the woman.

" _I feel the pain and I see what happened, like who or what inflicted it."_

" _Why didn't you tell me?"_ the woman sounded confused. _"How much did you see?"_

" _A sprained arm, fractured ribs, some knife cuts."_

Romanoff exhaled in relief. The child named only the injuries she's got during three previous months.

" _There is more than that. It haunts you but I can't return parts that you'd lost."_ Very slowly the girl lay down on the pillow. She was obviously exhausted.

" _What are you talking about?"_

" _Something happened to you. It hurts the most. It isn't your body…"_

A guard with a bowl of some white mesh came into the room interrupting their conversation. The girl pushed up the covers hiding her hands and chest under them as if trying to protect herself.

" _Thank you,"_ said Romanoff in English.

The man gave her the bowl and left the cell.

" _Eat this,"_ she told in Latin.

" _It's hot. My food has never been hot."_ The girl looked suspiciously at the plate.

" _If it is cold, it will be even more disgusting. At least try it."_

" _It's not the porridge I ate but I like it!"_ the child murmured in satisfaction.

Natasha couldn't believe her eyes. The child was eating cream of wheat with such pleasure as if it was a Birthday cake. She took a spoon from the tray with food she brought and tasted the white mess. She frowned. It was pure semolina cooked on water without salt or sugar. It was terribly horrible.

" _Have you ever tasted real food like that on the tray?"_ The woman asked out of curiosity.

" _Sometimes I ate stuff that you call "real food" and after that I felt sick because of poison in it."_

Agent Romanoff didn't understand why the child thought that food was poisoned. She was sorry for this girl, who probably spend her short life underground with people that taught her whatever they needed her to believe in.

" _What is your name?"_ Natalie asked ready to leave.

" _And yours?"_ was the answer.

" _Natalie Romanoff, you can call me Nat."_

" _I'm Scarlett,"_ replied the girl in Latin.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Scarlett**

 **Part 2**

 **by Rondabunny**

Agent Romanoff was standing with a tray at the door.

" _Whoever gave you the name had a vivid imagination,"_ she said sarcastically in Latin.

" _Why?"_ asked the girl confused by the remark.

" _Because it is obvious that your hair is red,"_ she turned to look at the girl.

" _Red is a color, isn't it?"_

" _Yes, of course."_

" _I don't appreciate colors,"_ the kid confessed.

" _What? How? What is the color of my hair?"_

" _Dark grey?"_ the child pronounced not sure why the woman asked her this stupid question.

" _And your gown?"_ It was light blue.

" _Light grey?"_ Girl shrugged her shoulders.

" _Yes, that's right,"_ Natasha spoke with a lump forming in her throat. _"Sleep tight, Scarlett,"_ she mumbled and left the cell.

She spent an hour with this strange girl but she was already far from being objective. Her first intention was to ask Fury to give this mission to someone else. Natasha thought of the Red Room, of continuous tortures and training, nevertheless, she had her times, as a young girl she sneaked through guards to see the stars at night or how she enjoyed early morning lazy rays of the sun that lit up their dirty window of the common bedroom. The world was still bright with beautiful, fresh colors. This little creature didn't even have this opportunity. This seemed extremely sad and unfair. Agent collected her thoughts and headed to the research department.

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" _Any scientific information on our new hostage?"_ she shot the question without saying hello to the guy in a laboratory coat who even jumped at this sudden intrusion.

" _Miss Romanoff, good afternoon. It's such a pleasure…"_

She didn't give him time to finish.

" _Leo,"_ agent Romanoff read at his badge, " _a nine year old girl was brought here two days ago. She attacked the medical staff and a nurse died. Does it ring a bell?"_

" _Yes, the girl who grows claws and fangs! It's amazing! Her cellular metabolism is four times faster than of an ordinary human. It means if she has a fractured bone it would heal in a week or so. Besides, we found a great anomaly in DNA. The girl has a DNA of a human and partially of a cat family. We haven't found the exact specimen yet. We'll need some more samples of her tissues. The whole phenomenon of the successful experiment to criss cross the two DNA is astonishing! "_ the guy described everything with such exaggeration that Natasha wanted to punch him in the face to stop the avalanche of words coming from his mouth.

" _Oh, really?!"_ If the look could kill, he'll already be dead.

" _Of course,"_ the guy pronounced not so sure anymore but still continued proving his theory, _"the girl must be extremely flexible. The X-Ray showed that she can draw in claws and fangs just like a cat. I assume she has the same abilities as cats like jumping high or climbing up trees. I'm working right now on the tissue taken from her claw. It is better than the cat's because it is much stronger. It doesn't mean that she can cut metal like Wolverine but she is definitely able to cut flesh, bones, wood and maybe stone, I'm not sure about that, though."_

" _You sound as if you like to have the same abilities,"_ stated Romanoff.

" _Who wouldn't?!"_ exclaimed the book worm.

" _She doesn't know anything about real world, was raised underground in a male cloister. She goes mad when given sedatives and she can't appreciate colors. Would you really like to be like this child?"_

" _Cat's also can't differ between colors,"_ he said surprised by the newest discovery.

" _Leo, do you even listen to me?"_ the woman started getting angry with this prodigy doctor of nobody knows what sciences.

" _Yes, yes, I'm sorry to hear how she was grown up but now she's with us. Are you going to recruit her?"_

The feeling of smacking him in the face became harder and harder to avoid for agent Romanoff.

" _Ok, she said that she ate some kind of white substance every day. It was one and the same, without much taste or flavor but it had all the necessary vitamins and minerals she needed. Any ideas of what it might be?"_ She tried to ignore the guy's last comment.

" _Maybe some kind of a protein drinks? You know, you may do it at home out of natural ingredients but there are pure synthetic drinks with more elements in them. Without synthetic flavors they could be quite disgusting to drink,"_ said Leo.

" _Yeah, right, that's it! Can you do one for a 9 year old?"_

" _Yes, sure!"_

" _Fine, Leo, I'll need it later for lunch,"_ she stated and left the lab leaving the young man totally happy.

" _Agent Romanoff, I think you have to return to the subject. We turned out the light as you ordered. She went crazy again and is trying to rip off a camera in the cell,"_ the guard seemed quite concerned when he contacted her on the phone. She turned off the intercom the minute she came into the lab.

" _Ok, I'm coming!"_ Natasha rushed to the prison level of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Until the woman got to the prison level the child managed to disconnect one camera. The second Agent Romanoff opened the door to the cell, the girl, who was standing on the metal table in the corner of the room, made a flip back sending the table to fall down on one side and landed hard on her injured leg, so hard that Natasha heard a small yelp coming from the girl's mouth and cracking sound of the plaster. Scarlett made a limping step towards the table and hid behind its lid.

" _Scarlett, are you alright?"_ Agent Romanoff asked cautiously entering the room.

" _Don't come closer or I slice you into pieces!"_ roared the girl in Latin.

" _What's wrong, little one? I won't hurt you. How's your leg?"_ Natasha put her hands up to show the child that she is safe with her.

" _You switched of the light to strike me with the lightening you hide in your sleeves. After that others will come to torture me. The thing is, I can see in the darkness better than you!"_ the child pronounced gasping at each sentence with pain.

" _Scarlett, nobody is going to torture you. We switched of the light for you to sleep. Isn't it better to sleep when there's no light?"_ She made a step to the table.

" _Don't come closer! I'll tear you to pieces, I promise!"_ roared the girl.

" _Fine, look,"_ she took of the leather bracelets with electric devices and threw them away at the door.

" _I don't have lightening anymore, can I approach you?"_ She said 'lightening' because there was no word for stun gun in Latin.

" _No!"_ was the answer.

" _Scarlett, can you stand up for me to see that you didn't hurt your leg too much? Please, we are here alone just you and me, there's nothing to be afraid of."_

The woman heard an unpleasant sound of claws scratching on metal and saw the top of the girl's head appearing from behind of the table. The child stared at her for some time to analyze the chances she had against this strong woman.

" _Please, let me have a look at your leg,"_ she made a suggestion to the red-head creature with sharp fangs.

The child nodded with hesitation. Natasha went to the girl who was gripping tight one of the table's legs to stand upright. She noticed the plaster crashed to pieces and only the band on it was holding it together.

" _Scarlett, I need to see how badly it is damaged,"_ she looked at the girl who was definitely in pain because her yellow eyes seemed too watery. _"Sit on the floor. Slowly."_ She helped the girl to sit down.

" _Can you cut off the bandages or I'll get my knife?"_

The girl bent, dug three fingers into the plaster and made a deep cut. Natasha cautiously removed the plaster. Intramedullary pin broke down and ripped the stitches open. The wound was bleeding again. She could only imagine how it hurts.

" _Listen, we need to take you to the emergency room. I'll inform the guards to get the medics here. I promise you'll be safe. I'll stay with you the whole time there is nothing to be scared of. Can you, please, turn back to normal? I'll appreciate it very much."_

The agent saw claws drawing into girl's thin fingers as well as fangs getting into her jaws.

" _Thank you."_

Natasha escorted the girl on the stretchers to the emergency department. She prevented the medical staff from giving the child any sedatives. They buckled her up to the bed, injected a painkiller right into the leg, fixed the bone again and put plaster on it. While surgeons where performing magic agent Romanoff distracted the girl by asking about her life with the monks if she could name them so. Then they put Scarlett into a special single medical ward for prisoners the similar she stayed before but all the surveillance system was working here perfectly well.

" _Will you sleep now?"_ she asked the girl tucking up the blanket around her small body.

" _Tell them not to switch off the light."_

" _Sure, sleep tight. If you want to go somewhere use crunches,"_ She put the crunches near the bed for the girl to grab them easily.

" _Inform me when she wakes up and don't turn off the light. She doesn't like it."_ She said to the guards.

Agent Romanoff spent this day reading reports about the place where the girl was found. The more she read the more she hated the place and the monks. Pantelleria Island was Hydra's research center. The monks were really religious people a bit crazy about life's origin, history of Catholicism, Jesus Christ personality and many other theories that were connected with ancient artifacts. They tried to find such things as the Holy Grail, the Scala Sancta, or the Shroud of Turin. These wasn't just one field of their research, others were ancient Greek and Roman legends, historical artifacts of Ancient Egypt which they eagerly searched for. Knowledge gathered from their finding they implemented in reality using modern technologies and achievements in science.

A not so big cloister on the ground became a huge monstrous building of ten floors underground that expanded to the whole area of the island. All the facilities were research labs. Here they carried out biological, chemical, medical and many different experiments including cloning, gene mutation, etc. Natasha read a report of approximately thousand people including pregnant women and a bunch of new born babies dying after the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attack. It seemed as if the explosion happened underground. They blew themselves up. Everything was burnt or destroyed except that little girl, who was now sleeping in the medical ward for prisoners.

" _Agent Romanoff, the subject is awake,"_ she heard the information on the phone.

" _Her name is Scarlett, Tom. Please, don't call her 'subject',"_ she replied tiredly. Only now she realized that it was eight o'clock in the evening.

" _Yes, ma'am."_

" _I'll be in five minutes."_

Natasha took a protein drink that was earlier prepared by Dr. Fitz, took a small sip of it and gritted her teeth because it tasted like meshed paper. "Semolina was better," she thought to herself.

" _Good evening, Scarlett."_ Natasha greeted the girl entering the room.

" _Hello, have 24 hours passed yet?"_ the child asked puzzled.

" _No, not yet."_

" _How do you understand that it is evening then?"_

" _Have you ever been outside?"_ Agent asked back.

" _Children can't go outside after the Apocalypse, especially female children. Only adult brave men can stand the wrath of the God,"_ stated Scarlett.

" _How many children have you seen when you were on that island?"_

" _None."_

" _And women?"_

" _I saw female specimen only here and in picture of some books that I read at the cloister,"_ confessed the girl.

" _That's a pity."_

" _Why?"_ asked the child in confusion.

" _You'll understand later when your leg gets better. Now eat this."_

The child gulped from a big cup that Natasha put before her on the table.

" _It seems like the one I ate in the cloister,"_ she said satisfied with the drink.

" _I'm glad that you like it."_

" _No, the previous was better. Can I have that one sometimes, please?"_ the child pleaded.

" _No, willing or not, tomorrow you are going to eat 'poisoned food' because it will help you to get outside, if you're not scared, of course,"_ Natasha said as a matter of fact.

" _Have you been outside?"_ girl's eyes turned into two round plates in astonishment.

" _Yes, because I ate poisoned food, learned the language that everyone speaks and was a very good girl."_ She tried not to laugh while pronouncing all this bullshit.

" _Outside is very dangerous and there's no air to breathe. You should be very strong to survive. You don't look like a strong human being. Maybe your lightening can help for a while, but I wouldn't rely on it. There are a lot of monstrous creatures out there."_

" _Oh, don't underestimate me, child, because you've never seen me angry."_

" _What language should I speak? I know Latin, Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian and Celtic,"_ the girl enumerated.

"All ancient languages except maybe Greek," Natalie thought to herself, _"What did you do when you were in the cloister?"_

" _I made a research on different relics and ancient objects of great importance. I read scrolls, manuscripts and stone or clay tablets, analyzed them and sometimes even found places where they might be. When I read something I remember it forever. I can cite it word for word."_

"You've got an enormous range of skills and abilities," thought Natsha but didn't pronounce it.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **Please, leave your comments!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Scarlett**

 **Part 3**

 **by Rondabunny**

Black Widow left the girl to have some sleep. It was a long day for both of them. Agent Romanoff needed to think. The child had an enormous potential, that's why, she didn't understand Hydra's intention to destroy their hiding facility together with this precious girl. Something was wrong. Maybe Scarlett has already been a trained agent on a mission just like she was many years ago back in the Red Room. Children are fierce without moral remorse, without pity – pure emotions. On the other hand, Natasha saw an ugly, lost child who was raised by fanatics sticking to their dogmas and principles. She has never been so confused. The best opportunity was to wait and see, so the Black Widow chose it at least until girl's leg heals completely.

Next morning Romanoff pushed a trolley with breakfast, some books and paper-tests into the cell and found the girl carving something on the crutches that she had left the previous night.

" _Morning, what are you doing?"_ she asked the child in Latin.

" _Does this mean that 8 hours have passed yet?"_ Scarlett turned her red and swollen eyes towards the intruder.

" _Hey, what's wrong? Have you been crying?"_ Natasha sat on the side of the bed near the girl to have a better look at her.

" _Is it forbidden?"_ Scarlett continued carving the picture on the crunch ignoring Natasha's worried voice.

" _No, but why were you crying?"_

" _My leg hurts,"_ came the reply.

" _I'll ask the nurse to give you some painkillers."_ Natalie was ready to give the instruction on the intercom but the girl stopped her.

" _No, it won't help. My organism is not working as yours. If I have sedatives, I can't control myself. Painkillers seize the pain only for some time and then it comes back twice or even more times worse than it was before. You've already given me a lot of painkillers. If I have more, I'll be dying of pain."_ She winced when she tried to move her plastered leg into a comfortable position.

" _How can I help you in this case?"_

" _Can you give me some books or tasks, anything that'll keep me away from thinking about pain?"_ pleaded the child.

" _I can but only after breakfast."_ She took the crutch from the girl and gasped in surprise. _"Wow, is it a Trajan's column?"_

" _How do you know?"_

The child was astonished. Romanoff really knew history and architecture of the Ancient Roman period. To recognize in these childish petroglyphic etching on the crutch a Roman masterpiece, she had to be an expert.

" _It is done craftily,"_ the woman praised these primitive carving to make the girl feel a little bit better.

Scarlett didn't say anything. She slid down from the bed slowly trying not to do unnecessary movement that would hurt even more. Took another crutch and asked for the one that was in agent's hand.

" _Where are you going?"_

" _To wash my hands and face. It's not good to eat breakfast without brushing your teeth."_ Scarlett said in Latin.

" _I see."_

Natasha was watching the girl as there was no separate bathroom in the cell. The sink and the toilet were in the corner. So, the guards knew every move the prisoner was making. In this case the prisoner was a little girl, who, nevertheless, already killed an innocent woman nurse. The Black Widow could definitely say that Scarlett was in pain and not only her leg but as if her whole body was killing her. Was this the side-effect of painkillers or the child was simulating? Agent Romanoff couldn't tell. That's why she decided not to pay attention to it.

" _This food is poisoned. I won't eat it,"_ the child pushed the plate aside when the Black Widow put a tray with breakfast in front of the girl.

" _I thought we discussed it yesterday,"_ insisted the agent.

" _What if I eat it and feel worse or become mad and tear you apart?"_

" _You should be extremely strong and lucky to tear me apart. Now you're in no condition of doing that,"_ saying that agent Romanoff took a toast from girl's plate put some butter and jam on it and took a great bite, _"Hmm, yummy! Wanna try?_ She put the same already bitten piece back on the plate.

Scarlett frowned. She didn't know any of food that was on the plate but the liquid in the glass seemed familiar. At least it was the same white color. The girl took the glass, sniffed, frowned even more and took a small sip, though. For sure she liked the taste because in half a minute the glass was empty. A thin white stain remained above Scarlett's upper lip.

" _This is good! Can I have some more, please?"_ She stretched a small hand with the glass towards Natasha.

" _You'll have more milk only after you eat something solid,"_ agent Romanoff took away the glass and put it on the trolley near the bed.

The child pouted if that could be considered pouting because Scarlett's mouth was so small and her upper lip was so thin, that her expression reflected some grimace.

" _Come on, here you have cheese, some toasts, strawberry jam and butter,"_ the woman explained.

" _It is poisoned!"_ followed the reply.

" _I've already shown you that it isn't! Fine, I'll try any piece that you point to but then you'll eat the rest."_

The girl pointed at cheese. Natasha took a slice of it and put in her mouth.

" _See, nothing happened to me. By the way, it is made of milk. Now it's your turn."_

Scarlett made a very small bite and pulled a face. According to her facial expression it wasn't a piece of cheese but some dirt.

" _What?"_

" _I'd rather drink milk,"_ Scarlett put her piece of cheese away on the plate.

" _It's just salty a little,"_ said Natasha shrugging her shoulders _. "Take a toast with butter and jam. I bet you like it."_

The girl took a bite of the same toast Romanoff ate just a minute ago. She ate it until the end.

" _Can I have some more milk, please?"_

" _Only with another toast."_

The child nodded. Natasha poured some milk from the jug that was on the trolley. Scarlett took a jam dish and a spoon, and in three spoons the dish was squeaky clean, the same she did with butter.

" _Bozje moi! Do you listen to what I'm telling you?! It's bad to eat so much butter!"_

" _Why did you put it so much then?"_ the girl frowned.

" _For you to eat some butter with bread not all of it!"_

" _What are the side-effects?"_ Scarlett asked with curiosity.

" _It's a laxative. The toilet will be your best friend today,"_ the woman explained.

" _Why do you eat laxatives for breakfast?"_

" _Look, it is good food until you eat like 150 gr. without anything. In this case it works as a laxative, understood? And you'll have some funny feeling in your stomach."_

Scarlett frowned, took the crutches and wincing every time her hurt leg touched something, went to the toilet. Then she bent over it, her whole body began convulsing, so, Romanoff hurried to the girl for help, but in a second everything that the child ate and drank was in the toilet.

" _Are you alright?"_ asked a highly agitated agent.

" _Fine,"_ said the girl wiping her lips with a palm.

" _Did you do this on purpose?"_ Natasha squinted.

" _You said it is bad in big amount. My leg is in pain, I don't want to move all day long because of your unsuccessful experiment."_

" _It isn't an experiment. I want you to get used to eating ordinary solid food not those steroid shakes you've eaten all your life!"_ hissed Romanoff. This kid was sly and smart, and she surely wanted to vomit everything from the very beginning, wanted to show her that she's obeying and then to do whatever she liked. No, it won't be as she wants! Romanoff earned her nickname not for being polite.

" _So, anytime you want to vomit you can do it?"_ the Black Widow folded her arms.

" _Yes, it helped me to survive some difficult experiments."_

" _Wanna tell?"_

" _You aren't a priest for me to confess. Your people put me in this cell on purpose and Cyclopes watching over me on purpose…"_

" _Cyclopes?"_

" _Them,"_ the girl pointed to cameras and Natasha understood that in Latin there weren't some modern words as well as steroids. She paraphrased it as a yak milk which sounded funny.

" _Scarlett, you are here only because you've killed a woman. Usually kids don't do that, so, you are under surveillance. If you show me that I can trust you, you'll get out of here. I promise."_

" _I didn't intend to harm her. I'm sorry. I told you that I can't control myself under some circumstances!"_ The child was obviously upset. She stepped on crutches and slipped. Natasha balanced her stopping the fall with her arms.

" _Don't touch me!"_ Scarlett jerked from the woman's embrace going to the sink to wash her face and drink some water.

" _Scarlett, listen, when previously living in the cloister you were in the same pain what did you do?"_ Natasha clearly saw tears forming in girl's eyes.

" _Suffered,"_ she pronounced and opened the tap to wash her face.

" _I have here some books. I don't know, I'm not a good teacher, especially, of the English language that you need to learn but if it helps you not to think about the pain, maybe we can try and I ask Dr. Fitz to make that awful drink of yours."_ She made some orders on the intercom. The guards came, took away the trolley and brought a tray with the cocktail.

Scarlett turned out to be an excellent student. She attentively repeated everything after the Black Widow and asked a lot of questions about the difference of pronunciation and spelling. The most astonishing thing was her memory. She remembered all the material from the first presentation. Until lunchtime Scarlett already could ask and answer some questions, could present herself and talk about some common things. The child could have learned more, if Natasha hadn't spent too much time on the topics Scarlett didn't understand like family, friends, food and drinks or how to say the directions because the girl couldn't get the idea that people in the real world lived outside.

" _This manual is weird,"_ Scarlett said in Latin.

" _Why?"_ asked Romanoff in Latin.

" _Why do I learn the things that I don't need?"_ the child continued conversation not turning back to English.

" _Is it so? You saw today food that actually exists, the same as cameras around you and they are not Cyclops or anything. A lot of things around you have a name which we don't have in Latin because it's a dead language."_

" _Why do you speak it then?"_ asked the girl seriously.

" _Because sometimes it is used as a code and there were some secret documents and manuscripts that I had to translate. Ok, let's have a break and eat something I'm starving. How is your leg by the way?"_

" _The pain eased a little,"_ Scarlett replied.

" _Now I'll order lunch but you only eat it if you name all items correctly in English."_

The guards came in with two trays with lunch for agent Romanoff and the child.

" _So, what is it?"_ Romanoff asked the child in English, who suspiciously smelled a plate with some messy liquid in it.

" _A bowl with soup, some bread, a piece of meat with I think broccoli and a tea pot with tea, I suppose."_ Scarlett looked confused at the woman.

" _Excellent, with only one minus it's not meat but fish. In the picture you saw it as a whole, but now you have just a piece of fish."_ The woman pronounced slowly for the child to understand better. _"Take the spoon and eat."_

" _If I feel bad, it'll be your fault,"_ the girl warned in Latin.

" _I'm sure everything will be fine with you."_

While Scarlett was eating Romanoff was studying expression of the girl's face. The child didn't like vegetable soup but she was too polite or maybe too hungry to leave anything on the plate. Broccoli also didn't make an impression on the girl, whereas, fish was perfectly cooked and tasty.

" _What did you like the most?"_ The woman asked taking away the tray after lunch was over.

" _Fish."_

" _Yes, sure,"_ she smiled. How could a half girl-half cat didn't like the fish? Impossible. _"Right now you are going to sleep."_

" _And where are you going?"_

" _I'm going to work."_

Agent Romanoff made sure that Scarlett was comfortably in bed and left the cell to write a detailed report on their today's session.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Scarlett**

 **Part 4**

 **by Rondabunny**

Agent Romanoff has just sat at the table in her bureau and wanted to take off the intercom when guard's voice said: _"Agent Romanoff, the subject is vomiting again. Should I send a doctor to check on her?"_

He heard Natalie's sigh in his earphone when came the order: _"If she collapses to the floor, send a medic, if she goes back in bed, let her sleep. I'll come back in three hours. If anything, call me on my mobile."_

" _Yes, Miss Romanoff,"_ he disconnected.

Tiredly Natasha took off her ear-phone. The girl was manic obsessive with the Apocalypse theory. She was sure that the wrath of God destroyed everything on the planet, so, she was looking in ancient manuscripts for the power that could let people live longer in the conditions that were no better than after the nuclear war. All her short life Hydra taught that common products were dangerous and maybe they even made her eat some after which she felt enormously ill because it seemed to Natalie Scarlett recognized cheese but made a face only not to eat it. The girl got quite well the notion of the family but was sure to be the miracle of God created to continue the life on the Earth as women and children died due to the apocalypse.

Black Widow worked for hours writing a detailed report on everything she got about the child in this short period of time. At the end of the second hour the woman looked through her report once again and felt that there were no words to describe the whole depth of lie this girl was living in. While learning English Scarlett interrupted her to understand notions and meanings of words every toddler knew subconsciously. Agent Romanoff was shocked that the child easily could speak about philosophical issues but didn't know simple things. Their lesson seemed as if Natalie was teaching English to an alien that looked like a 9 year old girl.

Scarlett was still sleeping when agent Romanoff entered her cell. The girl looked peaceful in her sleep as if she didn't feel like a prisoner. Maybe she got used to it and the environment was quite familiar: the surveillance cameras, the demanding tutor only the language and food were strange. Natasha touched gently girl's nose to make her wake up. Scarlett slowly opened first one eye than another one.

" _Ready to study more?"_ the woman asked fully aware that the child would rather eat than study.

" _Yes, may I drink some water?"_

" _Sure."_

The Black Widow heard a clear gurgling noise coming from Scarlett's stomach when the girl sat up in bed to have a glass of water from the table.

" _Are you going to starve to death?"_ Romanoff asked in Latin watching closely every move of the child.

" _Would you let this happen?"_ was the reply.

" _Why not?"_ Natasha also started to play this little game of smart replies. It was weird to hear it from a child, though.

" _You are interested in my personality. Besides, your boss won't let you starve me to death,"_ explained Scarlett putting an empty glass on the table.

" _Oh, I didn't know that you already have a personality. My boss can be rather unpredictable sometimes. So, either you eat solid food or you die. It's your choice."_ Natasha looked in those emerald eyes to see at least a slight glimpse of fear. Nevertheless, child's look was cold and unemotional as if all her feelings died long ago.

" _Let's study, shall we?"_ The girl quickly changed the subject either to do some hard thinking about Natasha's words or just completely ignoring woman's comments.

Scarlett has been learning the language for two hours without any complaints. She repeated everything Miss Romanoff told her, did exercises and asked questions if she didn't understand something. The girl was a hard-working and bright student. She didn't misbehave, was very polite and tactful. Sometimes Natalie thought that she was teaching an adult, who came to her from another planet where people lived only underground, spoke dead languages and didn't know anything about modern "surface" civilization as Agent Romanoff called it in her mind.

One of the guards brought a tray with dinner: a steak with ginger soy cream sauce, a vegetable salad and hot tea with biscuits.

" _Eat this or you'll be hungry till morning,"_ saying so Romanoff took the books and her tablet and left the cell.

The smell coming from food was amazing but Scarlett had an unbending spirit. She pushed the tray away in the corner, drank some more glasses of water and went back to bed.

In the morning Natasha found the food untouched. The girl was lying in the bed doing nothing but she wasn't asleep either.

" _If you refuse to eat there would be consequences,"_ the woman warned instead of saying 'Hello'.

" _Will you break another leg?"_ Scarlett made a joke but Natalie's face became even gloomier.

" _Aren't you hungry at all?"_

" _I am but I won't eat poisonous food,"_ said the girl firmly.

" _It's bad because this is the only food that you get from now on."_

Unexpectedly Natasha jumped on the girl pressing her hard to the bed. Immediately Scarlett grew claws and fangs but the woman on top of her was too strong to put up a fight. Very skillfully and swiftly agent Romanoff tied girl's wrists to the bed doing the same with the legs. Then some people in doctor's coats entered the room. They fixed Scarlett's head to the bed, so she couldn't move. They put up the girl into approximately vertical position, pushed a small tube down her throat and began to feed her. Scarlett couldn't move. She was suffocating. Tears streamed down her cheeks, she couldn't ask to stop it. Natasha left the room the moment medical staff got control of the girl. Agent Romanoff saw different tortures in her life but she didn't want to be present at this humiliating procedure. They left putting the bed back into horizontal position. Scarlett still couldn't move her limbs or head.

" _If you try to puke everything out, you'll choke in your own vomit,"_ said the nurse in the end of the procedure. She didn't leave the patient, but sat near the bed from time to time wiping tears that were running down Scarlett's face or making sure girl's nose was still breathing.

Romanoff came in an three hours when Scarlett asked to go to the toilet. It wasn't a big deal for the nurse to give the girl a bedpan but Natasha didn't want to humiliate the girl even more. The agent waited until the nurse closed the door behind her and unbuckled the belts which tied the child to the bed.

" _I'm sorry but you'll be fed twice a day this way if you don't eat solid food."_

The girl didn't answer she took the crutches and went to the toilet.

" _How do you feel?"_ asked the agent looking at the girl closely. It seemed the child lost even more weight.

" _My throat's burning,"_ she replied in Latin.

" _It's because of the tube. I'm really sorry. You can stop it if you eat common food. As you see nothing happened to you since you'd been fed."_ Natasha replied in Latin.

" _Where do you take all this food? I've never seen it before."_ The child confessed coming back to the bed.

" _I'll show you some movies about real world. They will be in English. You already know many words and phrases. It will be quite unusual but it is the reality."_

Romanoff put a computer in front of the girl and played the first recording. There were simple short movies for the Elementary level students of the English language but the environment was very strange for the child. Natasha had to stop the recording several times to answer questions about where these people where. Why there were so many women and children. What they were doing, etc.

" _You didn't explain where the food comes from. Why "grapes" is that shape but "oranges" are different? Why meat always comes in different shape and structure? Why in the picture a chicken is white somewhere… in the how do you call it … "yard" but in the picture of the restaurant it has other shape?"_ The girl looked at the agent puzzled and confused. The whole world she knew crushed in some hours. Everything was so unbelievable and frightening. She didn't ask anything about colors as she couldn't see any of them except black, grey or white.

Romanoff sighed. She was tired of answering so many questions.

" _Please, bring a wheel chair."_ She ordered the guard, who was listening to everything they were talking about. Only now Natasha realized that she spent more than 5 hours and it was already dark outside. _"And bring some tuna sandwiches and tea."_

When the wheelchair was in the room, Romanoff made the girl sit in the chair and they left this prison cell.

" _Where are we going?"_ Scarlett asked a little bit scared that it might be some other unpleasant experiment she had so many of them before.

" _Outside."_

" _No, no, please. I'll die there."_ The child wanted to stand up but her broken leg hurt and Romanoff went so quickly that it was approximately impossible. The girl was desperate.

" _Nobody died by going outside, neither would you."_ The agent said firmly. She made sure that the girl couldn't get out of the wheelchair. She buckled Scarlett hands, legs and body with the belts to it . That's why the girl was so frightened.

Scarlett couldn't do anything but cry scared to death.

Natalie used the elevator to get to the top floor and they went out on the roof. The weather was good for this time of the year. Fresh breeze fanned girl's red hair. It was cooler than in the room. So, Romanoff wrapped the child in the blanket, while she was wearing a leather jacket and tight jeans with high boots.

" _Look how beautiful it is."_

She showed Scarlett the sky full of stars, the moon, which the girl saw in the ancient scrolls and city lights as they were in the suburbs of the busy city that never sleeps. Instead of absorbing the surrounding the child began to suffocate. She couldn't breathe. Natalie recognized the symptoms of the panic attack. She remembered herself when she first encountered Dr. Banner in his alter-ego state. That time she could also hardly breathe because Hulk nearly tore her to pieces. The woman quickly unbuckled the belt that tied girl's body to the wheelchair.

" _Bend down and breathe. Come on! Deep breathe in. Now out. Breathe in… out. That's right. Everything is going to be fine."_ Romanoff told in Latin monitoring the child's condition. _"You are safe. Nobody's going to hurt you."_ She lulled making circles with her palm on child's back to soothe the girl.

" _May I come back? Please, let me go back to my room."_ Scarlett wept, her whole body was shaking in fear.

" _No, Scarlett. You are safe here with me. This is the real world, where all those people from the movies live. This is the world where I live every single day. It should become your world too."_ Romanoff gently stroked girl's head. _"Look at me. There's nothing to fear. I'll unbuckle your hands and we eat the sandwiches. You'll like them, I promise."_

She wiped away the tears from girl's face, untied her hands and gave a sandwich.

" _Eat, this is yummy!"_

" _Is it always this dark?"_ asked the child after long silence.

" _No, it is night. The sun set already. It will reappear in the morning and it will be day again."_ Romanoff explained taking the last sip of tea.

" _I know what the sun is. It's the brightest star in the sky. Why can't we see it now, then?"_ She was surprised and confused. Scarlett doubted everything she knew. Was her previous life real or this one? She wasn't sure.

" _Scarlett, I've answered hundreds of questions today. Let's take one step at a time. Tomorrow you'll learn something new."_

" _If you give me some books, I won't bother you anymore."_ She said wrapping herself tighter in the blanket.

" _No, all good kids should sleep at night,"_ answered Romanoff pushing the wheelchair towards the entrance.

" _Do you think I'll sleep today?"_ Scarlett asked innocently.

" _You have to try if you want to learn something tomorrow."_

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **Your reviews are welcome!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Scarlett**

 **Part 5**

" _Romanoff, come to my office!"_ Fury's voice wasn't the first thing Natalie wanted to hear in the morning, especially this early in the morning taking into consideration the fact that she didn't sleep well tonight.

" _Good morning. How can I help you?"_ She said entering the room and making herself comfortable in the chair in front of Fury's desk. The woman didn't give a damn if he was in the mood or not. She wasn't in the mood either.

" _Watch this!"_ He hissed turning the screen of the computer towards her.

Scarlett's cell appeared on the screen. In quick motion Romanoff saw the child tossing and turning in her bed. Then she did something under the blanket, perhaps, for cameras not to see. Scarlett began enchanting some words. Black Widow understood that the girl was praying. After some time the child closed her eyes and stopped praying. In an hour or so tiny stains of blood appeared on the surface of the blanket. Agent looked at the camera's watch that showed 5 a.m. in the morning. Fury could see tears in Natasha's eyes.

" _Is she alive?"_ She looked at Fury as if the whole world crushed under her feet.

" _We're doing blood transfusion. She's lost lot of blood, was stupid enough, though, to cut her wrists across but not along the veins. Let's hope she'll survive. The question is, was it necessary to show her the world yesterday? Couldn't it wait?"_ He asked quite calmly but Romanoff could hear notes of anger in his tone.

" _I told you. I'm not a good teacher. She asked too many questions. I thought it was the only solution. I think you should find someone else. I can't do it anymore,"_ she couldn't hide the emotions. She was overwhelmed that a nine year old child could commit a suicide.

" _Romanoff, wait!"_ but the agent has already left his office.

Black Widow looked at the tiny form of the child covered in different tubes stuck to the monitors. The heart rate was barely visible on the display too slow to count the person alive but it was beating. The woman didn't go into the room. She couldn't. It was too much for her. Romanoff turned her back to the window and left the avenger's headquarters forever.

 **Somewhere at the gym:**

" _Good afternoon, Miss Reynolds. My friend recommended you as the best cross-fit trainer in the city."_ Steve addressed Natalie as soon as she finished with the previous client of the fitness center.

" _How did you find me?"_ Two weeks and a half have passed since she left the Avengers and somehow Captain America in flesh and blood was standing in Kenefic, Oklahoma.

" _Once you said that nothing can be better than a small city where nobody knows you."_ He smiled at her.

" _This is not the answer. I disappeared forever. I left everything behind. The Shield couldn't have traced me."_

" _The Shield probably not, but Tony Stark can find a needle in a haystack. Don't forget that the Big Brother is always watching you."_ He joked.

" _What do you want?"_ She wasn't eager to play games right now.

" _I paid for the training, Miss Reynolds. Shall we begin?"_

Natalie used it as excuse to tear the man to pieces. The more tasks she gave him the faster he did them. In the end of the training the whole gym was staring at them in surprise clapping the man in admiration.

" _My friend was right about you, Miss Reynolds. I haven't had a better couch before. I feel exhausted,"_ Steve said all his training clothes were wet with sweat. _"I'll be my pleasure to have you as my couch."_ He said loudly for everyone to hear and went closer to Natasha. _"I'll wait for you at the parking lot. We need to talk."_ He whispered in her ear going to the dressing room.

" _So, what on earth do you need, Rogers?"_ She asked starting the engine of her car with Captain America sitting in the front seat.

" _Not me. A small girl, red hair, green eyes, grows claws and fangs from time to time. Eats only steroid cocktails if eats at all. Doesn't talk to anyone but said she'd talk to you. Becomes extremely aggressive if treated with antidepressants or sedatives. These two weeks spent in a special strong cell tied to bed because she's constantly trying to kill herself."_

" _I can't help."_ She said softly but was relieved that the child survived.

" _Nat, she is a child. Fury involved me in this case. I have no idea how to deal with small girls but the first thing she asked about when she came to consciousness was your name. After that she didn't say a word. No English, no Latin, nothing at all. I tried English, Vision tried Latin, Wanda tried some of her trick even Stark used everything he knew. They began feeding her with a tube like prisoners. I can't stand this. I asked Fury to let her die because her salvation turned into torture. Children shouldn't be locked in the cage and treated like animals."_ Natasha could hear sadness in Steve's voice.

" _She is afraid of the reality. Her whole life she was fed with delusional theories of the world's apocalypse. Now you scared her even more. I don't know what to do. I'm not a psychiatrist."_

" _When I was a nine-year old boy my father took me fishing. I remember this as if it was yesterday. I also remember playing board-games with my parents and my mother helping me with school projects. These are simple things but they remain with us forever."_ He reminisced the blissful childhood he had.

" _Why didn't you try that?"_ Romanoff asked coldly.

" _She starts screaming the second we take her out of the cell. Besides, the moment her arms and legs are not tied to the bed she tries to cut her throat or belly with those claws. Stark made special mittens to protect her from injuries but the time we let her go she smashed her head hard on the wall. It was a miracle it didn't crack._ _She has a big bump on her head, though._ _"_

" _If she doesn't want to cooperate, what I can do in this situation? Let Wanda deal with her."_

" _Nat, did you hear what I told you? Wanda tried, it doesn't work on Scarlett. It worked even on Thor but this girl seems to be immune to anything."_ He exclaimed pissed off by woman's indifference.

 **Few hours later Shield's headquarters:**

" _Stop it!"_ She'll eat voluntarily. Romanoff barked at the personnel who wanted to insert a tube in child's throat. _"Get out!"_

The woman unstrapped all the belts that pressed the child to the bed. Natalie was ready for any reaction from Scarlett but not for this. The girl curled into a ball and wept, and wept her tiny body shaking uncontrollably. Without thinking too much Romanoff lay down near the child hugging her with one arm.

" _You are safe. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore."_ She whispered in Latin into child's ear hugging her tighter. Natasha was lying like that for a long time until sobs turned into deep, regular breathing. The agent also closed her eyes and fell asleep still holding the child in her embrace.

The agent woke up with the feeling that somebody was staring at her. She was right. Scarlett was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed in lotus watching her. She had strange metallic mittens on her hands. They prevented her from scratching or doing anything else. That's why she rested her hands on the knees.

" _Not killing yourself? I'm impressed."_ The woman said sarcastically stretching her arms already in the sitting position. In her mind she scolded herself for falling asleep like a log instead of monitoring the girl.

" _We need to have an agreement,"_ the child spoke in Latin.

" _So official,"_ Natasha mocked, _"what do you propose?"_

" _You can teach me anything you want and do some not harmful experiments but you promise to protect me and keep inside without making me go out."_ Scarlett sounded too serious for a nine-year old.

" _I disagree. What now?"_ Romanoff replied calmly.

" _Let me die, then."_ The child sighed as this was the only solution.

" _Listen to me, child. Nothing is easy in this life but death is not an option. If you want me to protect you, you should learn to become brave."_

" _If a person isn't scared of anything, this person is already dead."_ The child said wisely.

" _I don't ask you to be fearless but courageous to face new things. Everything you were taught was bullshit. Want to kill yourself for those bastards who taught you to win? They left you to die. You want to do them a favor or to prove that you are worthy?"_

" _It's better to die now than wait until others tear you to pieces."_ Scarlett confessed. It was so unusually hysterical to hear these words coming from a child.

" _Others, I suppose, are people who want to help you? Who protect you from your own self."_

" _They feed me through the tube and constantly tie me to the bed,"_ complained Scarlett.

" _Only because you don't cooperate and listen!"_

" _What do you suggest?"_ the child was all ears.

" _To take off these mittens and eat something delicious,"_ Natasha proposed trying to find the way how to take off the high-tech steel mittens. She had to ask the guard because they could be taken off only by a remote control pass which she didn't know.

The moment mittens were gone. Romanoff saw ugly scars on both Scarlett wrists. There weren't any scars on the leg, though. Girl's regeneration skills were amazing. The broken bone healed perfectly well not leaving even a scratch after an open fracture.

" _Don't worry, they'll disappear in some days."_ The child assured her.

After breakfast with cereals and milk Romanoff asked Wanda to come to the cell which didn't raised the spirits of the witch. When Wanda entered the room Scarlett immediately grew claws and fangs and hid behind Natasha's back.

" _I see you two know each other,"_ the agent said in Latin. _"I though she can't do you any harm."_

" _She can make other things jump at you,"_ the child roared offended by the previous encounter with the witch.

" _What is she saying?"_ asked Wanda also feeling not comfortable in the room.

" _Says she doesn't like objects which can spontaneously attack her."_ Romanoff explained in English.

" _I did it to prevent her from hurting herself,"_ the witch said in defense.

" _Nobody's accusing you, Wanda. Did you bring what I asked for?"_

Wanda gave her a measuring tape.

" _Now you, turn to normal and behave."_ She ordered in Latin.

The child frowned but did as she was asked for. Romanoff took some measurements. Then Steve came into the room with some English books.

" _Scarlett, look at me."_ Natasha bent a little to be at girl's height. _"You stay with Mr. Rogers while I and Wanda go shopping because you can't wear this hospital gown anymore."_

" _Why? I'm used to such clothes."_ The child didn't understand what Natalie meant by the hospital gown. She always wore dresses while she was in Hydra's hidden stronghold.

" _There are much appropriate clothes than this. Be a good girl and learn English. If I come back and Mr. Rogers tells me that you didn't behave well, you'll spend a week tied to the bed eating through a tube, got it?"_ Romanoff warned in Latin.

The child nodded piercing Steve with her green eyes.

" _Ok, have fun!"_ She tapped Rogers on the shoulder and left together with Wanda.

Steve sat at the desk asking Scarlett to sit next to him and gave her the book.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Scarlett**

 **Part 6**

" _How did you manage to persuade her not to kill herself?"_ asked Wanda in the car. _"We've been trying for weeks, she didn't listen."_

" _Imagine yourself at her place. You're a nine-year old girl in a Jurassic World with nobody to protect you because once you already trusted people and they left you to die. What would you do?"_ Natasha retorted starting the engine of the car.

Wanda was silent for some time digesting the information.

" _I don't know. I think I'll be scared to death."_ The witch supposed not sure enough what she could do in this situation. Her brother, Quicksilver, was always near. They were together no matter what. Therefore, it was so hard to stay with the Avengers after his death in Sokovia. If not for the Black Widow, Captain America and especially Vision, she wouldn't know what to do and where to go.

" _You answered the question. She is scared to death. All her life she believed in apocalypse. She knows ancient history better than the most prominent scholars because they taught her ancient languages and made her read ancient manuscripts. As a child, Scarlett didn't understand why she had to learn all day long instead of playing. She doesn't behave like ordinary children. They made a working machine out of her. If she misbehaved she was punished by tortures, I guess. The girl is fluent in ancient Egyptian, Latin and Hebrew. From these three I speak just Latin. Probably, this gained her trust. Not completely, but at least something."_ Romanoff explained driving to the city center.

" _Vision also spoke Latin. She didn't react."_ The Scarlett Witch disagreed.

" _I may be mistaken but Hydra was experimenting with human and animal genes on that island. This child is partially human but partially an animal. To my mind, a cat. She instinctively feels that Vision is not like others. That's why she is afraid of him even more."_

" _My illusion power didn't work on her as well as my physical power. But a child tearing her own chest with the claws will haunt me in the nightmares for a long time now. I nearly cut the blood flow in her hands when I used my powers on the IV tube to tie up her hands. She ripped her chest to the ribcage."_ Even now the memory made Wanda's heart beat faster in fear and disgust.

Romanoff took a deep breath imagining the picture.

" _It's not your fault, Wanda. I should have analyzed better. She's a child. I was misled with the erudition and forgot about her psychic state."_

" _Is she going to be alright?"_ Wanda seemed really worried.

" _I can't read minds of delusional children but I won't let her die for sure."_ Romanoff said firmly.

" _I'll help,"_ the Scarlett Witch pronounced.

" _Then, let's find some clothes."_

 **Back at the Shied:**

Natasha came into the room and spotted a white board where a horse was depicted with some kind of a wheelchair, probably, a cart. On the other side a primitive car was drawn. Due to the checkered pattern above, Romanoff recognized a taxi.

" _Teaching cuneiform script? Nice!"_ The woman mocked at Steve who looked totally desperate.

" _Finally! He's the worst teacher ever! He can't explain anything he teaches!"_ Scarlett looked at Natalie really pissed off. Again the child spoke Latin instead of English.

" _Nat, why did you teach her "why" question? This is unbelievable! She asks more questions than a three year-old!"_ The man lifted his hands in dismay.

" _I would be truly grateful if you both don't talk at the same time,"_ Natalie said seriously because they both spoke simultaneously.

" _Thank you, Steve. I'll take care of this 'whyer',"_ she assured the man in English.

" _What was the topic today?"_ she asked the girl in English taking out clothes from the package.

" _Professions,"_ the child answered in English.

" _So, what professions can you name?"_

" _A doctor, a plumber, a carpenter, a teacher, an engineer, an IT developer, a taxi driver,.."_ Scarlett began to specify. _"But I don't understand half of it!"_

" _Not 'it' but 'them' this is pluralia tantum,"_ Romanoff explained.

" _Half of them,"_ the child repeated in English.

" _OK. Don't worry. Come here and try this on."_ She gave a pair of green leggings and a white long sleeve top with a unicorn on it to the child. She also brought some comfortable gumshoes.

" _These are clothes for boys."_

" _I also wear pants. Do I look like a boy?"_ Natasha retorted with the question. _"Put this on or I'll take you outside and leave you there."_

The child frowned but put on the clothes. They fit perfectly. Romanoff brushed girl's hair and plaited it in two braids.

" _Give me your paw,"_ the woman smiled at Scarlett.

A hand with claws clasped on her Natasha's hand.

" _Hey, it was a figure of speech."_

" _Sorry,"_ the child apologized and turned to her human self again. _"Are we going outside?"_

" _No, we are going to your new place of living."_

" _Is it outside?"_ The grip on Natasha's hand loosened. If she didn't hold the child's hand tighter, girl's little fingers would slip out of her grip.

" _Scarlett, you should trust me. You won't get outside until you are ready. You have to learn a lot. You'll stay with me, while you're learning."_

" _And then?"_ The child inquired worriedly.

" _Then, I'll get old and you'll take care of me. Of course, if I survive your infinite flow of questions."_ She joked in Latin.

She found Tony Stark at an apartment the Shield made for her and the girl. Tony in a sweater, pants and shoes was uploading a system on the display on the wall in the living room. It was a tiny apartment with one bedroom, where stood two single beds with the night tables were standing. One bed was near the window another one at the opposite wall. In the living room Natasha found a comfortable sofa in front of a huge screen. At the opposite side there was a big two sided desk with one laptop and, a laptop bag, which Natasha brought from her apartment. There was a small well equipped kitchen with the breakfast bar, where they could eat and a tiny hall with a mirror-wardrobe that occupied half of the space. Actually, it was a fitted-wardrobe on a scale of a small room. There were no doors except for the wardrobe and the door to the bathroom where they could take a shower and use the toilet. It was quite a Spartan but cosy apartment for two.

" _Hello!"_ Tony greeted Black Widow and Scarlett, who instinctively made a step closer to Natasha tightening the grip on woman's hand.

" _Hi! Looks nice!"_ The woman praised him in appreciation.

" _OK, Cheshire is ready. Cheshire, Bugs Bunny cartoon, please."_ He ordered.

" _Right away, Sir,"_ said the male voice and Bugs Bunny appeared on the screen.

The child nearly jumped of the noise and bright cartoon going on the screen.

" _Thank you, Cheshire. We'll watch it later,"_ said Romanoff. At the same time the screen went blank.

" _It's not as good as Jarvis or Friday, but it'll keep an eye on her and tell you what happens in the Shield or some other news you might need to know,"_ he explained looking at the child more than at the woman.

" _Thanks. I'll_ _get to it later. Now I have to cook lunch. Poor Rogers entertained her for 4 hours."_

" _Yes, it's magic that she's still alive."_ The man mocked. _"Fine, have a great time, girls. Bye."_ He said leaving the place.

" _I will live here?"_ asked the child in Latin looking around the living room.

" _Yes, we are going to live here."_ Romanoff specified.

" _Did your boss punish you?"_

" _Why?"_

" _Because you have to live in the same room as I do."_

" _It's vice versa, child. If you misbehave, I will punish you."_ She winked at the girl who seemed quite confused.

" _Which is my bed?"_ Scarlett went into the bedroom.

" _The farthest from the window. There are some packages and boxes on it."_ Natalie answered from the kitchen taking out vegetables from the package on the breakfast bar. _"Scarlett, don't open the curtains if you don't want to see the yard outside."_

" _The windows lead outside?"_ Romanoff could hear notes of fear in child's voice.

" _Yes, but you can't get out if you can't fly. We are on the fifth floor."_

" _Can I go to the place where I was kept before?"_ Scarlett appeared in the kitchen looking nervously about the room.

" _No, but you can help me cook lunch."_

Very quickly Romanoff involved the child in the process of cooking. She asked Scarlett to name all the ingredients in English correcting the girl, if she wasn't right. The woman taught the child how to chop vegetables, use the inductive stove and cook a delicious meal. After 45 minutes they were eating spaghetti Bolognese which Scarlett found very tasty. After the meal Natasha put the plates in the washing-machine.

" _Now you can see what's in the boxes on your bed."_

Instead of the boxes Scarlett took out a rag doll with fair hair and in a pink dress. She saw it in black and white, so it wasn't a big difference for the child what color the doll was.

" _This is a present from Wanda,"_ explained Natalie.

" _What should I do with it?"_ Scarlett fiddled with the doll totally confused.

" _Didn't you play with toys when you were little?"_ the woman asked in Latin.

" _I had wooden blocks and I had figurines like these,"_ the girl told pointing at figurines of animals. Natasha bought her 50 pieces of zoo animals and 20 pieces of domestic animals to explain who is who in English. _"They were made either of wood or metal. I had a lot of tin soldiers. I used them when I read about the battles and I had to put them correctly on the map. What do you mean by 'play'?"_ Scarlett didn't understand the word in Latin.

" _Children better adapt to reality if they manipulate with toys reflecting the behavior of their parents or people who are around them."_

" _Parents are people who gave you birth, right?"_ the child asked. _"My mother was the last woman…"_ She stopped. _"I mean where I grew up they told me that my mother was the last woman who survived the apocalypse but died giving birth to me. I was taught by ancient scrolls, philosophical treatises and various experiments I took part in. I got everything I need from the books or pictures. The figurines I had only when I was 2 or 3 years old. I can hardly remember."_

Natasha thought about her education in the Red Room. They also didn't have many toys but if someone did, she cherished it like an apple of her eye because it was the connection to innocence, to childhood they would never have again. Scarlett was deprived even from this.

" _At least you can start with the name for the doll. Maybe she becomes your best friend."_

" _Why should I name a piece of fabric and some threads?"_ Scarlett looked at Romanoff as if the latter was crazy.

Instead of arguing with the girl Natasha took the doll and turned the toy to face the child.

" _Hello, my name is Alice. I'm a real princess and live in a castle quite far from here. I speak Latin and English perfectly well. So, I can tell you a lot about the outside world, of course, if you treat me like a princess."_

" _But it's you who is speaking!"_ The child disagreed staring at Natalie.

" _This is how games are played. Either you play along or you don't play at all."_ The woman rolled her eyes.

" _Fine, Alice! Do you know anything about Natalie?"_ Scarlett played along.

" _I don't talk with strangers. Why don't you tell me your name?"_ Natasha role-played the doll.

The child sighed.

" _My name is Scarlett. So, can you tell me anything about the woman who personifies you?"_

" _Nobody is personifying me, I'm Alice! You are the most impolite girl I've ever seen!"_ Natasha tried to make the doll sound offended.

" _You just don't want to answer my questions,"_ the child frowned.

" _It depends what you want to know,"_ replied Romanoff putting the doll on the bed.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **Please, tell me what you think.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Scarlett**

 **Part 7**

" _Fine, what do you want to know?"_ said Natasha with a sigh knowing that Scarlett wouldn't leave her alone.

" _Do you have real mother and father?"_ the girl asked in Latin.

" _I had. My parents died when I was about you age."_

" _Because of plague or because of war?"_ The child continued her interrogation.

" _Because some bastards killed them and took me and my brother away."_ Romanoff could have invented the story. She had so many of them. But she decided not to as the reality was quite close to Scarlett's biography obviously with some minor changes. Natasha was sure that knowing the true story the girl would have some sympathy and probably wouldn't be so afraid of her and everyone around.

" _What experiments did they do?"_

The question took the black widow aback. They had more similarities when she thought.

" _What do you mean by experiments?"_

" _Different types of medicine, endurance test, how fast you can learn, how flexible you are or how long it takes you to heal injuries. There are so many, I can't even remember all of them."_ The girl confessed innocently.

" _That's why you're afraid of eating food. You think I'll give you something that is going to harm you. My God! You think that I also conduct experiments on you!"_ The guess struck Natasha as a lightening. All this time the child was sure that she was sent to use her as a guinea pig.

" _Aren't you?"_

Scarlett saw a change in the woman. She couldn't tell one color from the other but she recognized the slightest change in the shade. It was clear that the woman got paler when she was before, even though Natasha was talented to hide her emotions.

" _In your opinion I'm a monster but I will never ever do any harm to you. I promise."_

Romanoff wanted to hug the girl but Scarlett jerked away. She wasn't scared by the woman's intention. She hasn't ever been in such a situation before. So, she didn't understand what to do. Pure instinct told her to better run. Natasha got it right. This child has never been hugged before. So, she didn't insist leaving the girl to examine the small plastic animals.

After that they played Scrabbles in Latin. Romanoff had a close win which didn't offend the child at all. Scarlett wasn't competitive. It seemed as if she played because she was asked for. While they were playing, the girl asked Natalie about her life in the Red Room. She didn't get half of what Romanoff was saying, although it was expressed in Latin. That's why the stream of questions dried out together with the game. In the evening they watched a cartoon about myths of ancient Greece in English. Scarlett was an expert in the domain, so she watched the animation with genuine interest, even though she didn't understand half of what was said.

When the child was comfortable lying in the bed, Romanoff kissed her good night.

" _Why did you do that?"_

" _Do what?"_

" _Pressed your lips to my forehead for a second?"_ Scarlett explained.

" _Oh that! It is called a kiss. Sometimes adults do that."_ She smiled now knowing how to explain this simple thing to the red-headed alien.

" _In some Pope's chronicles there was written a ceremony where lower ranks of clergy had to kiss Pope's hand. On some of the Egyptian tablets it is depicted how men and women are kissing. This means "life is the breath." I am not a Pope and not a man. You didn't kiss me on the lips. Why did you do that?"_

Nat rolled her eyes.

" _Can you stop analyzing everything and tell me what you felt!"_

" _You have soft lips."_ Scarlett beamed with a clever reply.

Romanoff closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. She mentally remembered Steve's gesture when he was disappointed in somebody or confused about something. He always shook his head.

" _Not even the slightest idea of why I've done it?"_ The black widow looked at the girl, who rested her head on the elbow staring nonchallantly at Romanoff.

" _I can grow fangs and claws. I can cure but I can't read minds,"_ was the answer.

" _One day you'll understand."_ Natasha thought it to be wise not to give it away yet.

" _How can I understand if you don't explain anything!"_ She pouted not satisfied with the response.

" _Some things you should feel with your heart. Your brain can't explain everything."_

" _Thanks! Now I won't sleep until I figure it out!"_ Scarlett said stubbornly lying down.

Natalie smiled and went to her bed.

In the morning Romanoff found Scarlett in the living room.

" _Are you hypnotizing them?"_ she asked in hoarse voice still not woken up yet.

The girl shuddered and jumped up to her feet to face the woman.

" _Gee! Take it easy! Nobody's going to whip you for playing with toys."_

" _I…I… You didn't tell me what to do yesterday. So, I wanted to repeat the names of animals in English,"_ Scarlett made up a story surely because she was afraid of being caught with the toys.

" _Listen, I bought these toys for you to play with them not to place them as if they are at the exhibition in the museum."_ She said looking at the pattern made of tiny plastic and rubber animals on the sofa. She could definitely tell that they represented different probably rival groups but quite unusual ones because carnivorous animals and herbivorous sometimes were places together. _"What is this game about anyway?"_

" _These are Bastet, Set and Anubis."_ Scarlett pointed to the figurines of a lion, an ox and a jackal. _"They plot against Amun Ra."_ She showed the figurine of an eagle. Other animals also had their hierarchy and roles in this strange ensemble.

" _Why were you staring at them? You can move them whenever you want not just separate them into groups."_

" _I made up a story in my mind. Why should I move them?"_

" _You know when children play they like to manipulate with toys not to hypnotize them. You take let's say Anubis,"_ Natasha took the jackal from one group and placed it near the eagle. _"And he goes to Amun Ra to tell him that if he doesn't go away, they'll start a war."_

" _I can do it in my head,"_ said the girl.

" _You're the most boring child I've ever seen. Ok, play as you wish. It's not forbidden to take any toys you like."_ She ruffled up hair on Scarlett's head receiving a not so nice glance from the girl and went to the bathroom.

" _Have you brushed your teeth?"_ asked Romanoff 15 minutes later coming out of the bathroom.

" _Yes and washed my face. What are we having for breakfast?"_ Scarlett collected the toys in the box eager to eat something already.

" _I thought you wanted to starve to death. Has anything changed?"_ Natasha said sarcastically.

" _Yes, if I die, you'll have nobody to teach."_

" _Who said I want to."_

" _Yesterday you kissed me. It means I am very important. So, your boss will be dissatisfied if you let die somebody such important as I am."_ The child supposed following Natasha into the kitchen.

" _You remind me of Tony Stark, the man you saw yesterday."_

" _Why? I don't look like him."_ She disagreed.

" _You sound like him."_

Romanoff placed a bowl in front of the girl, poured some chocolate flakes with milk in it.

" _Your breakfast."_

" _Milk I know but what these balls are made of?"_ The child looked into the bowl suspiciously.

" _Let's see. Corn, oat, wheat, chocolate with vitamins and minerals. Everything a healthy child needs."_

She made herself the same bowl of chocolate flakes and sat at the bar counter to eat while the coffee was boiling.

" _Tasty!"_ said Scarlett taking another spoon of milk and chocolate balls. _"What are we going to do today?"_

" _Learn English and some other subjects in English. Maybe we'll go to the gym. It's underground. So, you won't see the real world."_ The black widow explained their schedule for the day.

The child ate her breakfast. Natasha asked Cheshire to play some short movies in English for Pre-Intermediate level students. While the girl was watching, Romanoff was sitting in front of the computer in the leaving room when she half-noticed Scarlett squirming on the sofa. She rushed to the girl, whose throat was swollen and she could barely breathe.

" _Cheshire, send for the med team now!"_ She ordered the cyber intellect and ran to the bathroom. In several seconds she returned to the girl with a syringe in her hand and made an injection right into the artery. _"Come on, Scarlett. Breathe! Look at me, breathe!"_

In five minutes doctors were fussing over the child. They put the girl on the stretcher taking her out of the room. Natalie ran near the stretcher holding Scarlett's hand in hers. She only let her go to give medics some room to insert a plastic tube down girl's windpipe through a small cut on her neck.

" _She had an acute allergic reaction. What did she eat?"_ The male doctor came up to Natasha.

" _Her favorite milk with chocolate cornflakes. Cornflakes were brand new for her today."_ She replied like in a dream. Again the child was at a brink of death because of her stupidity.

" _When edema goes away, we will run some tests on other_ _allergens."_ Dr. Leo Fitz assured her.

Natalie went back to the girl. Scarlett was still unconscious with the tube right above her chest which was connected to the oxygen tank.

" _You think I'm conducting experiments on you."_ Romanoff sat on the chair near the bed and took girl's hand into hers. _"You are right. If I weren't so stupid, I would have run the tests and see what food you can eat instead of feeding you with something strange. I'm sorry. Next time just throw that bowl right into my face."_

The grip of thin fingers tightened on her hand. Natasha looked up to see emerald eyes staring at her. Scarlett opened her mouth to say something but with the tube in the windpipe it was extremely hard to do.

" _Shhh! Don't speak."_

Instead of speaking the child turned Romanoff's hand palm up and started to glide the woman's palm with her fingers. The Black Widow understood the word.

" _Tasty…You still think it was tasty."_

A shadow of a smile appeared on Scarlett's pale face.

Three days later Scarlett was in Romanoff's apartment again. The army of small toys enriched by tin soldiers, two huge constructors of 1,000 pieces each and two sets of goggles for cyber reality. The test showed that the girl was allergic to approximately 30 various types of spices, plants, some nuts, insects and materials.

" _Are you sure I can eat this?"_ The child was examining her plate with chicked fried stake, spinach and carrot.

" _100 % sure."_

Scarlett took some green mass on her fork, put it in her mouth and screwed up her face.

" _No, I definitely can't eat this! It's disgusting."_

" _It's healthy. See."_ Natasha took a full fork of spinach and put in her mouth with such an expression on her face as if it was the best thing she has ever tasted.

" _I'd better eat some chocolate flakes."_

" _Don't even count on it. Chocolate, coconuts, peaches and other things you've never eaten are forbidden for you under penalty of death."_

Scarlett sighed. She took up a fork with spinach and turned it over again looking how the green mess which was grey for her flopped back on the plate.

" _Don't play with you food!"_ Romanoff warned her.

" _It's not food! This is food."_ She took a bite of the chicken stake. _"Food is something delicious and eatable. This is some substance that can make me feel very sick."_

She moved away the spinach to the rim of the plate.

" _No spinach, no cartoons anymore and tomorrow it'll be just spinach,"_ Romanoff threatened.

" _If I eat it today, can I have something else except this tomorrow?"_ Scarlett asked with hope in her voice moving spinach back at its place again.

" _If you behave…"_ Natasha grinned.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **Commentaries are welcome!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Scarlett**

 **Part 8**

" _How's the kid?"_ Finally this week Steven spotted Romanoff in one of the corridors of the Avengers' stronghold.

" _Quiet and jumpy as a mouse,"_ she replied. _"Afraid of going anywhere except that damn apartment. Nearly killed her four days ago. She is allergic to an enormous list of things."_ She sighed continuing _"How are the others? I'm kinda stuck in the kindergarten."_

" _Fine, I guess. They're training, working on the weak points same as usual."_

" _What are you doing tomorrow morning? I want to take her to the underground stadium. I don't understand how she can tolerate 4 walls day after day"_ She confessed.

" _I'm absolutely free in the morning. If you need any help, I'm ready."_

" _Thank you, Steve! Tomorrow at 6 a.m. She's a morning bird."_

 **Romanoff's apartment at the Avenger's stronghold**

Scarlett was sitting on the floor on a perfect straddle split. Her head was resting on hands, elbows on he floor and she was vividly reading some book in English.

" _Cheshire, what's "a cricket" in Latin?"_ The child asked the cyber intellect.

"' _Gryllus', Miss,"_ Cheshire answered politely and the picture of a cricket appeared on the screen.

" _Is it comfortable to sit like that?"_ Not many people could rest on a straddle split. It wasn't anything unusual to the Black Widow, but she didn't remember any children, except some trained ballet dancers or gymnasts, who could lie like that with their body on the floor and legs in a perfect line apart.

" _Yes, why?"_

" _Cheshire, how long she's been sitting like that?"_ Romanoff put some files on the table in the living room to do a research afterwards as Fury asked her to.

" _Since you've been gone, Ma'am."_

" _Have you been sitting like that for 3 hours?"_

" _My task was to read a book. I'm reading it,"_ was the reply. Scarlett didn't move just turned the page.

" _Can you stand up?"_

Natasha was ready to help and hear complaints. Instead, very easily the girl got up without any comments grabbing the book from the floor.

" _Tomorrow we go to the gym."_

'Gym' was a very gentle name for the area of two football pitches wide with various tracks, assault course which could be modified digitally according to the situation and some rock climbing cliffs each of them harder than the other.

" _No, please. I haven't finished learning English and I still don't know so many things! Please, can you give me some other tasks? For instance, I don't know how to cook yet."_ Scarlett said everything in perfect English.

" _You won't stay in this apartment forever. I already told you. It's not outside. It's underground. There is nothing to be afraid of. Yes, and Steve will be there. He baby-sat you while I was gone. If you want to cook, then help me."_

The child eagerly put the book on the bedside table in the bedroom and went to the kitchen.

The nagging repeated in the morning but those who knew the Black Widow closely, also understood it would be in vain. So, Steve met Natasha and Scarlett at the entrance to the training facility. He was wearing a tracksuit and trainers. Romanoff had her hair in a pony-tail wearing black running tights, racer orange short sleeve top and running shoes. She also had a bag with towels and water. The child's hair was done into two perfect braided buns. She was dressed in colorful trainers, batman base layer top and pink and black patterned tights.

" _Good morning!"_ He greeted.

" _Good morning,"_ told the child shyly.

" _Morning, Steve. She thinks, we're going to eat her alive."_

Steven opened the door and Natalie pushed Scarlett into the 'gym'.

" _This is the gym? You said there is nothing to fear?"_

The girl seemed to be in a shock of all the tracks, obstacles, ropes and other equipment she's never seen before.

" _May I go home? Please, I'll do whatever you say. Just let's go home!"_

Natalie could clearly see tears in girl's eyes.

" _We'll do some exercises and go home. I promise."_ She assured the girl. _"Steve, can you do a short warm-up. I'll have a run. Need to clear my head from this little creature."_ Romanoff winked at the man and left Scarlett with a very confused Captain America.

" _Hm… Ok. How about something simple?"_

It was amusing to see Captain America doing aerobics but Rogers made it as funny for the child as he could. Making up stories for each move they made. Half of the stories Scarlett didn't get due to the lack of understanding of the real world. Still, Romanoff was surprised to see the man together with the girl walking upside down on their hands when she came back refreshed after jogging.

" _Thank you, Rogers! Now it's my turn."_

She went with the girl to the gymnasium where she made the child to get of her trainers and made her do some flips, gainers, onodi, somersaults and other gymnastics exercises. The court was right in front of the boxing ring. So, Rogers was absolutely impressed by Romanoff's skills, the child held her own style but copied everything Natasha showed her.

" _Fine, I yield! Where did you learn all of these?"_ Natasha asked in the end of their session.

" _I didn't. I repeat what you show me,"_ Scarlett shrugged her shoulders deep inside proud of herself.

" _You've never done this before?"_

" _Not in this way."_

" _In what way, then?"_ She gave Scarlett a bottle of water while wiping out sweat from her own face.

" _It was like that."_ The child pointed to the assault course. _"This is a mild version."_

" _You're very agile, flexible and have a great sense of balance. It takes years to get to such a shape."_

" _I may show you."_

With these words Scarlett ran to the ropes assault course. Although an outsider might not see any challenge in the course but it had some hidden tricks that Natalie knew quite well, especially the middle part of the course where about ten ropes were hanging down from the ceiling. Each of them was placed at a different distance and height from another. Besides, when somebody reached this part of the course, the ropes started to move due to the mechanism on the ceiling. The movement was so unpredictable, that even great climbers and tough soldiers without special abilities couldn't get through without falling.

" _No, Scarlett! Come back!"_ Natasha shouted running after the girl. Too late, though, as the child has already climbed twenty meters up the rope ladder, owing to her hidden abilities to grow claws and fangs.

The Black Widow climbed after her shouting at the girl to stop. Scarlett didn't listen leaping from one hanging log to another. The woman and the child covered third of the course in a flash, Romanoff was slightly behind trying to catch Scarlett who was giggling every time Natasha failed to grab the collar of her shirt.

" _Scarlett, stop right there. It's dangerous!"_ Romanoff yelled in Latin when the child jumped on the first hanging rope.

Nevertheless, it seemed as everything was fine, because Scarlett was swinging on the rope a little and jumped to another, but in the middle of the path, which was at the level of 10 to 15 meters, the ropes went wild. Instead of going down one of the ropes went up the minute Scarlett held it. This made the child panic because the distance between her rope and the closest widened every second. Natasha was already at the point.

" _Scarlett jump, I'll catch you!"_ She shouted in Latin but the girl panicked. She thought it would be wise to leap to the rope that was in front of her because Natasha's rope seemed to be far away. So, the girl swang and failed an inch to the other. On her way down Scarlett managed to ball the legs, still the thought that she would crash her bones was inevitable. Romanoff held her breath and closed her eyes in fear. She forgot about another person, who was watching them the whole time. Rogers was fast enough to catch the falling child cushioning the fall by his own body. The motion was so swift that Scarlett didn't even realize that she was lying on Captain America's chest when he hit the floor.

" _Are you alright?"_ hoarse voice of the man made the child return to reality.

" _Uh-huh,"_ she whimpered collecting herself in the upright position.

Steven sat up with a groan.

" _Don't try that again!"_ He said massaging his left shoulder.

Natalie got tough with the girl bending Scarlett's ear with such strength that the girl squealed.

" _Are you crazy?! You could have broken every bone in your body, do you understand that?!"_ She shouted at Scarlett, who already understood her mistake. _"Thank God, Steven caught you!"_

" _Will it help if you tear my ear apart?"_ asked the child in Latin squeezing her eyes tightly because of the pain.

" _If it knocks some sense into this red head, then it's worth it! You're so grounded today!"_

" _What's 'grounded'?"_ asked the girl in Latin innocently massaging her burning ear.

" _You're punished! No cartoons or movies for a week and today you eat just fruit!"_

" _Bananas sound fine!"_ Scarlett smiled looking at the furious woman.

" _No, apples, grapes and pears! No milk, nothing that you like!"_ Romanoff warned.

Child's shoulder's sunk.

" _That's not fair!"_ she frowned turning to Steve. _"Thank you for catch me,"_ she said.

" _for catching,"_ corrected Romanoff.

" _You hurt your shoulder. I can help,"_ offered the child.

" _Don't worry. I'm fine!"_ he said smiling at the girl.

Scarlett looked at Nat, who nodded and the girl came to the man. She took his big hand with her tiny fingers and he melted. Warmth embraced him so safe and calming, he could feel happiness running up from his fingers and flooding inside his whole body from head to toes. Peace and blissful overwhelming memories of his childhood flashed through his relaxing mind. He came to reality only when Scarlett's took away her hand.

" _It shouldn't hurt anymore,"_ she was quite sure about that when a few bloody tears ran down her face.

" _It doesn't. Thank you!"_ Steve moved his shoulder a bit to see if it was fine. _"Does it hurt you?"_

" _Always. I got used to this."_ She shrugged.

 **Afternoon, a diner somewhere in the city**

Steve and Sam were sitting at the table.

" _Shouldn't you babysit a little monster from Hydra?"_ Sam asked Romanoff playfully but gulped when he met her stern look. _"I didn't mean anything, sorry."_

" _How's Scarlett?"_ Steve was more polite taking his gaze up from the menu.

" _Not very happy with the fruit diet. She hates almost all fruit at least those she can eat without turning into a wheezing balloon,"_ explained Nat plopping at a vacant seat next to Sam.

" _Are you here to buy her some hamburgers? Big crispy looks nice."_ He proposed looking into the menu again.

" _No, after her steroid cocktails she should be on a special diet. I'm experimenting."_

" _Experimenting?"_ Steve asked curiously.

" _Yes, gave some tasks on general science and left. She knows that food she likes is in the fridge. She's already able to make sandwiches, fry some potatoes or eggs. I bet, she won't eat anything except two apples I left on the table."_

" _I bet 10 dollars that she'll eat a sandwich or at least drink some milk,"_ said Captain America.

" _Well, that_ _'s a deal!"_ Natalie shook his hand.

" _I also bet against your fruit diet. What child would eat fruits all day long? It's nonsense!"_

" _Two to 1, then. Fine! Let's see."_

Natasha put her smartphone on the table switching on the video streaming the picture from the apartment. The kid was sitting at the table doing exercises. She stood once to drink some water but didn't open the fridge or eat an apple.

Romanoff came back in the evening and found Scarlett at the table with the book. The apples were untouched as well as the fridge. She checked with Cheshire.

" _Why haven't you eaten anything?"_ She asked putting a bag with still warm fried chicken and some salad in front of the girl. Scarlett put it aside pretending to be very interested in the book. _"Scarlett, look at me, please. You haven't eaten since lunch, where you didn't eat much either. You know that food is in the fridge. Why you didn't take anything?"_

" _I'm not stupid. If I take something, you'll punish me even worse. I know people of your kind."_

" _Really? Why didn't you eat at least apples?"_ The woman frowned at the comment but kept calm.

" _My stomach's aching since lunch. I'd rather drink water."_ The girl replied in Latin.

" _Why didn't you tell me anything?"_

" _Like you would listen,"_ Scarlett muttered and glued to the book again.

Agent Romanoff was cold and calculating but if words could hurt, these were them.

" _I'm sorry, Scarlett. I was wrong. Would you mind eating this chicken or it gets cold and disgusting?"_

" _Thank you, I'm not hungry. Can I take a shower and go to bed?"_ The girl said stubbornly neglecting Natasha's proposal.

" _Yes, of course."_

Natalie took the bag with the chicken and put it in the fridge. She understood girl's behavior. She was in her shoes in the Red Room. She knew intimately well what might have been for the disobedience. Scarlett was used to such kind of treatment. So, Romanoff needed time to earn girl's trust. She made the girl drink some medicine to ease the pain in the stomach and kissed her good night.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **I hope you liked it!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Scarlett**

 **Part 9**

Two weeks have passed since Scarlett was training in the gym with Steven and Natasha. While the Black Widow was running as usual, the child who was doing exercises with Captain America stopped suddenly.

" _Steve, may I ask you a question?"_ The child addressed to both adult by their names. They insisted on that, so she went with the flow.

" _Yes, shoot!"_ He gave her a bottle of water taking a short break.

" _Why does Nat always kiss me before I fall asleep?"_

" _Hm. You know many adults do that. They want to show how much they love and care for their children,"_ the man explained not sure if the words were quite right.

" _But I'm not her child. She's my tutor. She teaches me and tells me what I should or shouldn't do,"_ Scarlett disagreed.

" _Is it the only thing she does?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Who brushes your hair and does all these braids? Who cooks lunch and dinner? Who washes your clothes? Who plays with you?"_ He looked at the girl. Scarlett was really confused by the questions.

" _You're right. My previous tutors just taught me and their assistants did other work that Natalie does. I think she should ask for an assistant too."_

It was not the conclusion Steven was hoping to hear. This girl was like a robot, no emotions towards others, always too serious, no smile or laughter. She understood if she did something wrong, usually apologized, helped Natalie with cooking and some other stuff that the Black Widow was doing but expressed no emotions towards the woman.

" _No, Scarlett. It's not what I meant. She loves you not like a teacher loves a student. You're like her daughter, don't you feel it?"_

" _Yes, she's different from any other tutors I had. She doesn't whip me, or does painful experiments. She always asks about my opinion. I thought it's because she's a woman. I was told that I'm the last on Earth. It wasn't true, though."_ The child confessed.

" _Now you know the truth."_ He sighed fighting the anger building inside his chest for everything that had been done to this child.

" _Why does she love me? I'm not very smart. I killed the woman when I got here. Often I don't understand anything she tells me. Cheshire said that '_ _ **love**_ _is a strong interest in something or a feeling of affection'."_

" _Who told you?"_ Steven wasn't aware of the cyber intellect Stark installed in the apartment.

" _Cheshire, a local god, but Natasha names him cyber intellect. He can't speak Latin and doesn't have a body, but he can show things on the screen and translate words in Latin."_

" _Oh! I see another Friday."_

" _Friday is a day of the week."_

" _No, Tony Stark has another cyber intellect called Friday."_ Steve explained.

" _I know Tony Stark. He introduced us to Cheshire the first day we moved to the rooms."_

" _Yes, he designed Cheshire and Friday."_

" _How can a human being design a god?"_ The child looked puzzled.

" _They are not gods just sophisticated programs. You better ask Tony because I have no idea how he did that."_ Steven smiled.

" _What are you doing? You should have been training!"_ Natalie stopped near them grabbing Steve's bottle of water from his hand and drinking it.

" _We were discussing some philosophical questions."_ Steven explained not against the fact that the Black Widow stole his water.

Romanoff rolled her eyes.

" _Were you successful to explain because sometimes this little girl drives me crazy?"_ She winked at Scarlett.

" _Not very, but I think we should go to Fury."_

" _Why? Do we have a case?"_

" _Yes, right in front of you."_ He said to Natalie nodding in girl's direction.

 **Few hours later in Fury's office**

" _You wanted to talk,"_ Fury said making the gesture for Steven to sit down.

" _Yes, I did. What do you want from Scarlett?"_

" _She's a nine year old child. You ask me what I want from her."_ Fury raised an eyebrow.

" _Scarlett is not an ordinary child. She already speaks English fairly good for such a short period of time she has been learning it. She is adapting to the conditions quite fast but sometimes behaves like a 3 year old because Hydra didn't teach her the emotional part of any relations between people. This girl is a smart kid and I think Natalie treats her right, but what are S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plans for her?"_ Captain America looked at his boss with a challenge.

Fury sighed and got up from his chair, turned his back to Rodgers and headed to the window with his hands clenched behind his body as if he was thinking about how much information he had to reveal.

" _She isn't the one of her kind. As far as I understood on that island they were doing genetic experiments on incongruent crossing of a human being and some kinds of animals. We found at least 6 more children under the debris. All of them were boys with horribly looking malformed bodies. Also, there was, let's say, a museum or laboratory of unsuccessful experiments on embryos, most of them girls who died before being born. I think Scarlett was a breakthrough. The one with great intellectual abilities but her psychic and physical skills were not satisfactory to whatever project they bred her. Instead of having lethal abilities to kill, she inherited the power to heal the others, though her own body didn't cure itself as fast as they wanted. So, they used the child in experiments researching ancient technologies and doing some chemical and physical tests on her."_ He finished the explanation and turned to Captain America. _"Hydra fed her with the apocalyptical theory of post-atomic war period. I want this girl to adapt to the reality. Besides, she doesn't know any norms of behavior in modern world. That's why it would be absolutely unwise to put her in some orphanage. So, to my mind, S.H.I.E.L.D. can benefit from her abilities as a researcher and prepare her to life in the civilized society. What's your opinion?"_

" _I think Romanoff doesn't have to bring this girl up alone. I agree Scarlett won't have any chance to survive in reality. It was hard for me to adapt to new technologies and other advances. Children are vulnerable. To my mind, the whole team of avengers should be included in girl's education. In this case, she will get used to socializing with other members of society. It's highly likely it'll shorten the adaptation period and she can go outside,"_ Steven suggested.

" _Let's do it, then. Debrief the rest of the team. Still, Agent Romanoff will be the head of this project. She has the final voice in decision making. That's how I like to see it,"_ said Fury staring at Captain America with his single healthy eye.

Natalie wasn't satisfied with the decision after the briefing but she agreed that it would be better for Scarlett to communicate with other people. When she entered the apartment, Scarlett was lying on the sofa in the living room with her eyes closed listening to classical music. Something was strange, though. The sound of a tractor working in the field was travelling in the air.

" _Cheshire, stop the music!"_ The woman commanded trying to figure out the source of the second sound.

To her sheer surprise the sound was coming from the sofa. When Scarlett opened her eyes and sat up, the noise was gone.

" _Did you know about violin? It's the best musical instrument in the world!"_ said the girl excitedly.

" _Yes, and Paganini's concert is also a good choice. But did you hear a strange sound of a big cat or a tiger purring?"_

" _I never heard a cat or a tiger purring. Maybe you ask about this?"_

The strange sound came right from Scarlett's vibrating chest that went up and down in a very relaxed way. Natasha knew that if she touched the girl, she would feel a slight shaking of her small body as if she was touching a cat, which was purring. It made her hair stand.

" _I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't do this when anybody's around."_ The child apologized and stopped purring. _"The music is so beautiful! I didn't realize I was doing what you said."_

" _It is called 'to purr'. Cheshire, show us a purring cat."_

A simple stripped cat appeared on the screen. It was lying somewhere in the sun and purring because of the good weather or wonderful meal that it had.

" _Yes, I can also do that,"_ the child smiled at the animal on the screen. _"Why is it so scary? It doesn't look dangerous."_ She pointed at the cat.

" _Scarlett, people can't purr. It's impossible. That's why it seems so … unusual to hear a child purring,"_ explained Natalie with patience.

" _I won't do that again. I'm sorry."_ The girl looked on the floor frightened that she had done something very wrong.

" _No, it's alright. You were purring because you liked the music, weren't you?"_

" _Yes, violin is the most beautiful musical instrument! Can you teach me how to play it?"_ he stared at Romanoff eagerly.

The woman shook her head.

" _No, kitten. I can't teach you to play violin. I can teach you ballet dancing, different kinds of martial arts, shooting, computer hacking or even playing the piano, but I have no idea how to play violin."_

The light in child's eyes faded.

" _Fine, then I'll just listen to it."_ She pronounced with a sigh.

" _I have some good news for you. From now on you have many tutors. They have various skills. So, I hope some of them play a violin."_ Romanoff smiled at the idea already choosing the best candidate for that.

" _No,no,no… I don't want other tutors. Please, I have you and Steve. I will listen to music, if you let me. I don't want anybody else."_ Again fear reflected in those bright but sad eyes.

" _Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of. You know at least three of them. They were talking to you in the ward while I was away, remember?"_ She approached the child and put her hand on Scarlett's shoulder. _"Wanda is a nice girl, who will teach you literature and art. Vision is great in philosophy and he can teach you playing the violin. Actually, with his vast knowledge he can teach you any discipline. Tony Stark, of course, if he condescends to do it, is great in natural sciences."_

" _And you?"_ Scarlett's eyes turned from scared to desperate.

" _I will teach you how to survive in this world and some other languages."_ She patted the girl on the shoulder.

" _Are they going to come here? Will you be present at all the lessons?"_ Scarlett asked with hope in her gentle voice.

" _No, sugar. There'll be a special classroom for this. We'll think about the schedule and the program. I think your education starts in a week or so."_

" _If I do something wrong, how I will be punished?"_

" _By doing pushups, or running, or eating something that you don't really like,"_ Romanoff enumerated all possible options.

" _You promise?"_ Scarlett looked too seriously at the woman.

" _I'm in charge of whatever might or might not happen to you. It means I'm the boss. So, If you're wrong, I'll punish you, if others are wrong, I'll grill them."_

" _What is 'to grill'?"_

" _Fry something on the open fire."_ Romanoff said nonchalantly.

Scarlett's eyes became round.

" _Can you do that?"_

" _Scarlett, it's a figure of speech. I won't literally grill anybody. It means if anything happens, they have to report to me and I will see what to do next. Clear?"_

" _Yes, I think."_ She shrugged her shoulders still hesitant to meet new people even if she had already seen them once before.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Scarlett**

 **Part 10**

Tony Stark was sitting in his studio at home with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Half empty bottle was standing on the coffee table beside him. It was his second glass. Tony heard familiar clicking of the high-heeled shoes recognizing Pepper's pace from the distance.

" _Hello, how's your day?"_ She asked him coming from behind and leaning to kiss him. His sullen face put her aback. _"What happened, Honey?"_

" _I burned her,"_ came the reply and the Iron Man took another long sip from the glass.

" _You burned whom?"_ The woman couldn't get what this man might have regretted so much because Tony always thought to be absolutely right. The man was proud of himself and his arrogance could overwhelm even the most patient woman in the world. Still, Pepper learned to tolerate him probably because she loved him.

" _Scarlett. We were doing an experiment with various reagents. I explained what proportion to mix up and how to do that. She's always pretty accurate but clumsy. I wasn't paying attention, her hand with the test tube slipped and she spilt the spirit of sulphur on her right hand. She burned her hand to the bone but just hissed."_ He remembered the picture and guiltily closed his eyes.

" _Hey, you said she has great regenerating abilities. She'll be fine in a day or two."_

Pepper sat on the arm of the arm-chair and took the glass from Stark's hand.

" _What did Natalie say?"_

" _Nothing, scolded the girl for being clumsy and not following the instructions."_ He told about this as if Romanoff slapped him on the face instead.

" _I'm sure everything will be fine with Scarlett."_ She put her arm on his shoulder and rubbed it a little trying to soothe the man.

" _Do you think I'm going soapy?"_ He raised his eyes to meet her loving gaze.

" _No, you became responsible, I guess. Next time you'll watch what your student is doing instead of inventing something in your head. She's a child and they are clumsy no matter how smart they can be."_ Pepper smiled at him.

He took her hand in his and kissed it absent-mindedly reminiscing his first class with Scarlett. He lied to her that they are having the class in physics, brought different materials from wood to marble and made the girl grow claws and fangs in order to see what abilities she had. The lesson stopped abruptly with Romanoff storming into the room nearly knocking him down with a hard smack on the face when she noticed what was going on in the room. Scarlett broke two claws scratching stone and marble. Her fingers didn't look very bad. There wasn't blood or anything, but Black Widow was furious. He had never seen her like that before. After that he promised not to experiment on the child only with Nat's permission. Romanoff made it squeaky clear. She attended all classes Scarlett had with him. At the beginning it was boring, then, he persuaded the agent to try some experiments not harmful of course. Since then everything went smoothly. He taught the child sciences also finding something more about girl's hidden abilities.

Unlike other children Scarlett was too obedient, hard-working and quite shy. She did all the tasks perfectly well which disappointed him because it seemed even duller than before. Tony liked challenge which he got from Peter Parker. This girl was a total opposite. An angel with not so pretty face, though. When Stark started to think of this tutoring as the most tedious and stupid routine he had agreed to, but the girl surprised him. It was an ordinary algebra lesson where he gave her several tasks on equations which she did as easy as shelling peas, while he was using the transparent screen with formulas working on the new nano-technological material. He had been thinking for weeks about the problem but didn't see any solution. Suddenly, Stark heard a sweet voice of the girl. Scarlett's voice was so gentle it almost irritated him every time she opened her mouth.

" _There is a mistake,"_ she said.

" _No, the tasks are correct. If you can't solve them, it means you did something wrong."_ He spoke not even looking at the child.

" _No, Mr. Stark. There's a mistake in the formula you have on the screen."_ She pronounced mostly regretting to start the conversation. Teachers should be respected. This idea has been hammered in her head since the day she was born.

" _Yeah, and where is it? I've checked everything 100 times!"_ He answered annoyed.

" _May I show you?"_

Scarlett came up to him and changed the plus sign into minus in the core of the formula. She took the stylus from Tony's hand, deleted the whole solution and began to solve it on her own. In fifteen minutes the man was staring at the child with amusement on his face.

" _Scarlett, do you understand what you've done?"_

" _Found the solution to the problem?"_ She hesitated, feeling that something was wrong and maybe she'd be punished for it afterwards. It didn't happen to often since she has been living with Natalie. She wasn't the fan of any kinds of punishment because she was afraid to disappoint the people, who were spending so much time with her.

" _You've just invented a new super strong and at the same time flexible material!"_

He jumped to his feet, took the child up and danced in circles across the room. Scarlett was a bit scared at such outburst of emotions. So, she grew fangs and claws and roared to the man that she would open his carotid artery if he wouldn't put her down.

" _Sorry, kiddo! I didn't mean to frighten you. Why were you doing that stupid stuff for the 6_ _th_ _graders if you know advanced mathematics?"_

" _I don't know advanced mathematics. Natasha says real world is not my cup of tea. I'm better in abstract thinking."_ She shrugged.

" _Nat is a wise woman. From now on, no stupid things for you. Science can really be interesting."_

The memory faded and Stark looked up at Pepper taking her hand in his.

" _The team is leaving for Nigeria today. The child will stay alone with only Vision to keep an eye on her."_ He said regretfully.

" _Tomorrow you have the meeting with students about your grant program. You have to rest, Tony. Scarlett will be fine. She survived Hydra. I don't think a minor injury is a big deal for that girl."_ She ruffled his hair with another hand staring in his sad eyes.

" _Yeah, you are right. She had suffered worse than a nasty burn."_ He agreed standing up and following Pepper to their bedroom.

 **Avengers' headquarters, Natasha's apartment**

" _No, I won't let you go!"_

Agent Romanoff was standing in the middle of the living room with the child's arms wrapped around her waist. Scarlett was squeezing the woman so tightly even with one bandaged hand that it began hard to breathe.

" _Kitten, what's wrong with you? I'll come back in a week or so!"_

Natasha was fully dressed, with her bag packed and lying on the sofa. She was ready to go if not for this red-head obstacle on her way. She was trying to unclasp those sticky arms for 3 minutes now.

" _No, please, you promised to take me to the concert of classical music. You told that you wouldn't leave me anymore!"_ The child begged for sympathy.

" _Scarlett, have I ever lied to you? We go as soon as I come back from the mission."_ She tried to assure the kid but in vain.

" _Take me with you. I promise I'll stay in the room and wait until you come."_ Scarlett pleaded.

In these three months the girl made a lot of progress. Natasha remembered how hard it was at first for this child to look out of the window. Romanoff started to open the blinds on purpose saying she was fed up of living in the dark when outside was daylight. Scarlett behaved like an animal, who spent the life inside and never been in the street. She sat as far from the windows as she could. She avoided any contact with the outside world. Still, Natalie won the fight. She took away the blinds giving more and more practical classes of how to behave in reality. Together with other team members they developed an adaptation program where everyone contributed to one or another useful thing. Steve taught history via films and pictures making the girl see as much of the world as she could. Wanda gave situational classes on how to order something in a restaurant or buy some food in the shop while teaching literature. Vision spoke about philosophical topics of daily life every ordinary child would encounter at school or society and taught Scarlett to play the violin. Tony was responsible for science which finally he made to be a funny and interesting subject. Natasha was doing everything else. The agent became a tutor, a nanny, a doctor, an advisor, a good and bad policeman at the same time but mostly a mother, whom Scarlett has never had before. Besides this, Black Widow had to work on various missions and train other members of the team like Hawkeye, Vision and Wanda plus keeping Stark away from experimenting on the child, even though, she sometimes did it herself.

Romanoff couldn't get the thought of black and white eyesight Scarlett had. So, she brought stripes of colored paper of about 30 different colors. To her sheer surprise the girl recognized 7 of them: black, white, green, yellow, blue, red and brown. Purple, light green, or dark blue were the same for her. She could put pink color with the yellow one and dark blue with the black. Nevertheless, the colors she could decipher one from another were of different shades of grey.

" _Don't go. Please, please, please…"_ the child begged and Natasha could clearly feel that the girl was shaking.

Gently but firmly the woman unclasped Scarlett's arms from her waist and touched girl's chin to make the child look up at her. Scarlett's face was soaked with tears.

" _Listen, little one, a week will pass in no time. You won't even notice. I promise I'll call you every day in the evening between 8 and 10 p.m. Vision will supervise you until I'm back."_ She carefully wiped the tears from Scarlett's cheeks only to make way for more. Natasha kissed the child on the forehead, took her bag from the sofa and left the sobbing girl in the room. On her way to the jet she connected with Vision on the intercom and told him to check on the girl in ten minutes.

 **At the Quinjet a few minutes later**

" _You are late!"_ reprimanded Steve the minute Natasha boarded the jet.

" _Thanks, I noticed. That little fox didn't want to let me go. I nearly twisted her arm to get rid of those sticky hands. It was so careless of Stark to give a child those chemicals! Her hand hurts as hell and I can't give her any painkillers because she turns into that uncontrollable creature that is no better than Hulk just smaller."_ She tried to think of a reason for child's behaviour.

" _I still can't believe that Stark walked out of the room on his two feet. I thought you'd kill him right there right then,"_ Sam chuckled from the seat.

" _If you saw how pale he was, when I came in and how he was fussing over Scarlett ordering the whole medical department to come and nearly drowning the poor girl in the sink, I would say he was desperately afraid. I've never seen him like that before."_ Romanoff confessed taking her seat and buckling up the seat belt. _"Though, I must admit, Scarlett is a brave girl. She didn't shed a tear whole day long, until now. I left her sobbing."_

" _I'd also be sobbing if I were in her shoes. It's not because of her wounded hand,"_ Wanda interfered in the conversation.

" _Why then? Enlighten us."_ Romanoff turned to the Scarlett Witch.

" _For nine years they had been experimenting on her until she found out that there existed some other treatment. When I started giving her lessons, I thought I was talking to a robot. The only emotions on her face were either anger or fear, mostly fear. Now the things have changed a bit. She doesn't shudder anymore when I enter the room. She started asking more questions. She began to sympathize with characters from the books she reads. Sometimes I even see tears in her eyes, but I haven't noticed any sign of a smile yet,"_ Wanda explained mostly giving away her own feelings to the avengers. The family she found after her brother's death.

" _You're right. Our little fox cub is evolving. It's a pity, you couldn't stay longer, Nat. But we should all hug her when we come back,"_ proposed Captain America.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Scarlett**

 **Part 11**

They were flying for an hour when Natasha's had her wrist watch beeping. She answered the call on her smart watch.

" _Nat, she hasn't stopped crying since you left. Should I call a medic?"_ Vision's face on holographic screen looked absolutely desperate.

" _Hysteria. This is something new."_ Romanoff sighed. _"Are you still at my place?"_

" _No, I went out to call. I tried everything children like. I talked to her, I proposed her treats, put her favourite classical music. Nothing! She curled up into a ball on her bed and has been sobbing since then."_ The man truly didn't know what to do. _"When I ask her why she's crying, she doesn't answer."_

" _OK, I'll talk to her. Leave her alone for some time. I'll call you back."_ Romanoff took out a small computer. She preferred laptops to tablets because the reports had to be done and nobody introduced anything more comfortable than a keyboard. _"Cheshire, display me on the screen in the apartment, make the sound to be heard everywhere and show me the girl."_

As Vision said Scarlett was lying on the bed, curled up into a ball. The woman couldn't see her face but by a wet edge of the stain on the pillowcase, she could definitely understand what the child has been doing all this time.

" _Hey, kitten! How are you? Wanna see where I am?"_ She said soothingly.

The child stir on the bed but didn't move.

" _Scarleeeeett!"_ Natasha called. " _Do you think I don't see you weeping your eyes out on the bed? Come on! You know it is rude not to talk when an adult asks you."_

Scarlett didn't even stir. She was lying in the same position with her head buried in the pillow. The face was covered with her wounded hand.

" _You know what. If you are going to behave like this, don't even think that I will be your tutor. I teach only strong kids not namby-pambies who aren't in the mood all day long. I ask my boss to give you another tutor. So, either you stop sobbing and ask Cheshire to call me in an hour, or I tell Fury to give you another tutor. Bye!"_ Natasha ended the call.

" _Hey, that was harsh! She is just a child who hadn't got anybody to take care of her. She finally got used to us and now you telling her that we don't give a damn! Let me call her!"_ Steve as usual read a lecture to the woman.

" _Shhh! Look!"_ Romanoff stopped him midway when he wanted to grab her computer.

The girl stood up unwillingly and went to the bathroom. Unfortunately for them, there were no cameras in the bathroom, so Natalie could only hope that the kid would be wise and wouldn't do anything stupid. Ten minutes passed but the child didn't appear.

" _Vision, check on Scarlett. She's in the bathroom."_ The man on another side could clearly hear worry in agent's voice.

" _How can I get into the bathroom? She's a girl!"_ The moral progress of Vision was written all over his red face.

" _I don't ask you to crash the door or enter through the wall. Try to knock!"_ The woman said sternly rolling her eyes. _"Why are men so stupid?"_ she thought to herself.

The moment Vision raised his hand to knock on the door to the bathroom, the child went out and passed by him as nothing happened. Her face was red from crying. It was clear she tried to wash her face, so she removed the bandage which revealed a deep ugly burnt wound on her hand. The man noticed it. He knew what happened but didn't see the wound itself. Now he understood how terribly it could hurt.

" _Did you brush your teeth and washed your face?"_ Vision asked as if nothing were wrong.

Scarlett nodded still sniffing with her nose.

" _Let's dress your wound."_ He suggested.

The child nodded again.

" _See! It worked!"_ Agent Romanoff turned to Captain America with a triumphant smile.

" _Yes, I remember not long ago this very child was trying to kill herself. Since when did you become an expert in child's psychology?"_ He looked at the spy curiously.

" _I've read lots of books since Fury asked me to keep an eye on the girl. At this age children want to have an example, a person whom they would like to copy. Scarlett is the sweetest kid I've ever met in my life no matter what horrible things those bastards did to her. I think this is because they hammered the Bible in her head from the early age. They didn't make her pious, though. She can analyze the Bible, Talmud, Koran_ _together_ _with Egyptian, Roman and Greek religious views. The thing is that everywhere they emphasized the role of a woman as a worthless creature that should always eat out of male's hand. That's why she's so obedient. That's why she doesn't understand my relationship with men. If she started admiring me, that's great. Maybe I can change that crooked paradigm for this girl to believe in herself and become worthy,"_ explained the Black Widow.

" _You said she doesn't sleep with toys,"_ Steve pointed to the screen.

Scarlett put on her PJs, took a strange striped purple cat with long rope-like legs and hands from the bed-side table and got under the blanket. Before that Vision changed the pillow because it was wet of tears. The man gently tucked the blanket over girl's tiny form. The child covered the toy cat with the blanket too. Its head was on her pillow and she hugged the toy.

" _Oh, it's a cat I bought her a month ago. She was reading 'Alice in Wonderland'. Then, we watched a movie, but she liked both the book and the movie. Cheshire was her favourite character. So, I found a crocheted one on e-Bay and bought it. Since then it has been living on her bed-side table."_

" _Still, she's stubborn,"_ said Steven.

" _Why?"_

" _You told her to call back, she didn't do that."_

" _We'll talk about it tomorrow. Now let her sleep."_ She switched off her computer and called Vision to tell him to stay at her apartment at night. He agreed and went to the living room to sleep on the sofa.

Natasha kept her word. The time difference between New York and Nigeria was 6 hours, so next day at 2 a.m. Nigerian time Natasha called Vision to see how Scarlett was doing.

" _Hello, how are things?"_ She asked nonchalantly as if she weren't on the mission with Wanda just two hours ago trying to find the precise information of Rumlow's supposed attack. They had some hints but not enough to have a clear picture, though.

" _She's been doing everything with an obvious effort today and she hasn't eaten a crumb! Should I force her to eat? When I want to talk, she says that it's nothing to be worried about."_ Vision complained really confused by child's behavior. He didn't have a clue what to do in this situation. _"I tried everything that psychological books tell. Nothing works! Is it possible at all?!"_ Nat has never seen the man so disappointed and disillusioned.

" _I think it is, if such an intellectual genius asks,"_ she smirked. _"Put her in front of the screen. Do whatever you want, just bring her to face me. Then, leave the room, please. Nothing personal just girl's talk."_

" _Scarlett, have you heard Natalie?"_ He called for the girl who was sitting on her bed faking the interest in the book she had in her hands.

Begrudgingly the child pulled away from the cosy nest she was half sitting half lying in and went to the living room.

" _So, young lady, what's up? You're upset by me but harsh on Vision. It's a bit unfair, don't you think?"_ Natalie said strictly in Latin probably she wanted the girl to feel guilty.

The girl looked down and was silent for a while.

" _Tell me, are you eager to have a tube pulled down your throat or nose to feed you? If 'yes', be my guest! I can organize it even being thousands miles away."_ She warned the girl who unconsciously cringed when Romanoff mentioned the feeding tube.

" _I'm not upset by you or Vision. My hand hurts so much that I can't think clearly,"_ Scarlett pronounced not taking her eyes from the floor as if it was the most interesting thing to watch right now.

" _Nonsense! When you came to us, you were in much worse condition than your hand is now. You didn't whine. Now look at me!... Scarlett, I mean it! Look up!.. Fine. Tell me the truth, what is this all about?"_

The Black Widow could tell the girl was lying about her hand. During months spent together Romanoff studied Scarlett's behavior. The child couldn't lie. She was too sweet and inexperienced for that. The creature with fangs could, though. The little monster inside this child was unpredictably naughty, witty and pretty mean but the girl was its total opposite.

" _I had a bad dream,"_ Scarlett mumbled unwillingly telling the truth. She murmured it in such a way that Black Widow could hardly catch the words. She read it from child's lips.

" _Tell me about it."_

The girl shook her head.

" _No, if I tell it, it will become true."_

" _Yeah? Who says?"_ said Natalie encouraging.

" _It repeated today."_

" _Is it about me?"_ the woman asked observing child's behavior.

Scarlett nodded.

" _I die there, don't I?"_ She continued the interrogation trying to find out more information from Scarlett to calm her down.

The child nodded again.

" _Tell me about it. I already know that I'll die. If you tell me how, maybe I will figure out how to prevent this uncomfortable situation,"_ she said half-jokingly half-seriously.

" _You are on the branch of a big tree and the serpent suffocates you. You try to get out of its grip and cut it with something. It drops you down, but not on the ground. You fall into some hole. It drops an apple on you, which gives birth to a legion of tiny serpents. They bite you to death."_ Scarlett was speaking too fast, so she had to catch her breath afterwards.

" _Thank you for the warning. I'll be careful, I promise. Did you have such dreams before?"_ Romanoff asked curiously. For sure, the child was scared to death, she needed to understand why.

" _Yes."_ Scarlett said shortly.

" _What happened to people who you saw in the dreams?"_

" _I've never seen those dreams about anyone else except myself."_ She spoke in apologetic way.

" _You mean the bad things happened to you."_

The child nodded.

" _Tell me. I want to understand how to interpret the symbols in your dream,"_ The woman asked carefully trying to make the girl speak.

" _Once I saw a tiny pyramid in my dream. I was 7. The pyramid was transparent with sparkling flocks inside. I liked it so much, but it was at the bottom of the pond with various small fish. I couldn't swim, but the pond was shallow, so I entered the water to take it. Suddenly a crocodile came out of nowhere. It attacked me, I couldn't escape. It tore me apart taking deeper into the pond."_ The child took a deep breath and continued. _"I remember that month Brother Caius introduced me to a boy. He was a year or two younger than me. He was a strange boy, all covered with fish scale with reptile paws and slightly protruded face with mouth full of sharp teeth. He lived in a big aquarium because he couldn't breathe air for long. The boy's name was Priam. He couldn't speak. So, we played games. Brother Caius gave me different stones and small wooden boats to give to Priam. He exchanged them for shells and bones he had in his aquarium. He seemed quite nice. Until one day when Brother Caius was asked to go somewhere and left us. I was sitting on the side of the aquarium when Priam took my hand and pulled me into the water. I panicked because I couldn't swim and tried to push him away and to get to the surface. The boy_ _sank his teeth into my arm._ _I used my claws against him. He was smaller than I was but much stronger. I bit him with fangs and scratched with claws, still he managed to keep me under water. I started to suffocate and lost consciousness. I woke up in the hospital cell. Every part of my body was bandaged together with my face. I didn't have several fingers on my hands, Priam ate my nose and tore some pieces of flesh from my legs and belly. I spent a very long time in hospital cell screaming my lungs out because of pain. My body regenerated quite well. Even fingers and nose appeared at the same places."_

" _That's why you were so hysterical the whole month when I tried to teach you swimming! Why didn't you tell me?"_ Romanoff was shocked inside by girl's story but she didn't show it. She knew that the child was traumatized while growing up at Hydra's experimental facility. Black Widow also had her own experience in the Red Room, but to be torn to pieces just to see the regenerative abilities of the subject. That was gross even for the Red Room.

" _I wanted to trust you,"_ Scarlett said simply.

The last words hurt Natasha but were so sweet to her ears. If she could, she would garb the girl in a hug. Unfortunately, she was too far away now.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Scarlett**

 **Part 12**

" _Ok, Sweetheart, what did you have for dinner today?"_ Romanoff asked as if she didn't know that the child hasn't eaten all day long.

" _Vision cooked mashed potatoes with grilled chicken and salad,"_ Scarlett enumerated everything that was placed in front of her two hours ago but which she refused.

" _That's your favorite food, isn't it?"_

" _Yeah,"_ the girl sighed regretfully, her stomach gurgled in unison with her thoughts. She was starving still stubborn to admit it and too strong-willed to give up her strategy. The child believed that if she starts this little hunger strike, Natalie will come back sooner and nothing drastic will happen.

" _Then you have either to heat your meal up in the microwave or I ask Vision to order the medical squad to feed you through the tube. You choose."_

" _I prefer the first option,"_ said the girl not thinking too much.

" _That's my girl!"_ Natasha praised. _"And thank Vision, please. You worried him terribly today!"_

" _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."_

" _That's fine but no more hunger games. If something's bothering you, you may always tell me. We figure out what to do."_ The woman assured her.

" _Can you take care of Steve?"_ Scarlett asked carefully trying not to frighten the woman.

" _Oh, believe me, Steve can take care of himself."_ Natasha chuckled remembering all the times he saved her life. Still, the sullen expression on girl's face told her to cut the crap. _"Why? Did you see him in your dreams too?"_ Romanoff didn't believe in superstitions or clairvoyance or whatever magical stuff. So, she didn't pay much attention to this childish blabbering. For her it was no more than unlucky coincidence.

" _Yes, the serpent bit him. Steve started killing other people. A lot of them died until they caught Steven."_ Scarlett explained sadly.

" _Fine, I'll keep an eye on Captain. Now go and put your meal in the microwave. I want to see you eating."_

" _If I go, I won't see you."_

" _Switch on the computer, silly, and take it to the kitchen. I'll ask Vision to come back."_ Natasha ordered rolling her eyes.

Romanoff watched the girl eat her dinner, gave some instructions to Vision and finally two hours later she went to sleep.

Wanda and Natasha went to get some more information on Rumlow and his team while Steve and Sam scouted the place of the supposed attack.

" _I heard Scarlett's on hunger strike again,"_ Wanda said as a matter of fact.

" _Your boyfriend can't deal with a nine-year old. How can you stand him?"_ Natasha teased the Witch.

" _Hey! Vision is not my boyfriend!"_ Wanda was somehow surprised that Black Widow suspected something.

" _You_ _were_ _cooing yesterday which by the way could affect the mission. Do think I don't see how many times you looked into smartphone and send messages? I don't even mention your whispering via skype until 4 a.m."_

" _Did you hear that?"_ Wanda was startled.

" _Wanda, we share one room if you haven't realized yet. Vision is a nice guy. You should give him a chance. Nobody's going to judge you."_ She encouraged the young woman.

" _Do you really think so?"_ Wanda was taken aback by Romanoff's words. She could never believe that Natasha would say something like that.

" _Doing this work it's hard to have a relationship. If you have this possibility, you should go for it."_

" _I'm sorry about you and Bruce,"_ Wanda looked at the agent with sympathy.

" _It wouldn't have worked for me and Bruce. Besides, I'm more into women, you know."_ The last phrase was pronounced seriously and nobody could read Romanoff's poker face.

" _What?"_ Wanda's expression was worth seeing.

Natasha left her trainee think for some seconds then her lips cracked.

" _You! You're always playing jokes on me!"_ The Witch smiled back.

" _Without sense of humor you are no better than dead."_ The agent shrugged her shoulders.

At the same moment on another continent Scarlett opened a huge box that came from Stark industries. The note on the box said that it was her today's science lesson and Mr. Stark apologizes for not giving the class but the child had to make everything according to the instruction. Vision was shocked a bit what Tony Stark asked the girl to do. It was a small flying machine similar to Sam's Red-Wing but without weapons on it.

" _This is insane!"_ Vision whispered. _"It'll take you a week to assemble this. Besides, your hand is not in condition to do some manipulations."_

" _Will you help me?"_ Scarlett asked with eagerness and hope already thinking of how to put together this amazing puzzle.

" _Sure, but you have other things to learn."_

" _Who says? Natalie is not here. My hand hurts not as much as yesterday, but still quite badly. This is interesting. Can we do this together?"_ She tried to make the puppy expression on her not so attractive face. Vision shook his head.

" _Fine, but if Natasha asks why you don't study what you should have, it's your problem."_

" _Deal!"_

She put up her good hand to give high five. Steve, Nat, Wanda and Tony always did so if she accomplished something well. A day passed unnoticed.

" _How's our fox cub doing?"_ asked Rogers the minute Romanoff entered the room to discuss their plan on Rumlow's arrest.

Captain's words had a very strange effect on Black Widow. She subconsciously asked why Steve referred to Scarlett as 'our fox cub'. The girl wasn't his. Natasha has spent more time with the child than anybody from the team. She patiently answered stupid or quite difficult questions Scarlett asked. She was the one taking care of child's eating habits, hygiene and some other stuff. Nevertheless, the whole team treated the girl as their own? Was she becoming jealous? She tasted Captain's words in her mind 'our fox cub'. The more time she spent with the child the more she liked it. This girl's innocence made her vulnerable and appealing at the same time. The more Scarlett trusted her, the more Natalie wanted to protect her. Was she falling for the girl? She shook that thought away. It was another feeling. The feeling, that only a woman could understand. That's why Steve's words were so hateful to her ears.

" _Stark is up to something. Yesterday Vision and Scarlett were assembling some flying machine, which I hope won't be harmful to the child, otherwise I strangle Stark with my own hands."_ According to the expression on Widow's face she was completely serious.

" _How could he do that? Doesn't she have a wound in her hand because of him? How can she assemble anything?"_ Steve boiled over the news.

" _Relax. Vision helped. To my surprise they did it in one day with the instructions provided which had errors and sometimes pages were missing. Can you believe that?"_

" _I remember how she constructed that pyramid out of Lego using just her imagination. She built it precisely as the Great Pyramid of Gyza inside and outside as if she has been living there for years."_ He reminded the agent.

" _True. This specimen also works. I hope that Vision will be careful enough not to get Scarlett involved into something dangerous."_

" _After what happened at the lesson Tony will think twice before giving a child, even a prodigy one, something harmful to do. She'll be alright."_ Steve smiled at Natasha who was already looking at the map of tomorrow's place of supposed Rumlow's appearance.

" _Good afternoon, midget. Good day, Vision. How's your hand doing?"_ Tony Stark greeted Scarlett while she was studying biology with Vision, who checked at what stage were Scarlett's flowers which he told her to plant a month ago. For the child, who didn't see any living plants being brought up by Hydra, this was a miracle. Vision explained the processes that happened in the plant at various stages of growing. He tested girl's knowledge on differences between these flowers and processes that happened within each species at every single stage of their growth.

" _Good afternoon, Tony. It's fine, I guess."_ The child greeting as she usually greeted any member of the Avenger's team by their names. She showed the Iron Man her hand which was in an adhesive plaster instead of a bandage.

" _So, biology lesson is over. Now it's time to location!"_ He rubbed his hands in anticipation.

The child understood world's structure quite difficult. She knew that in ancient times lived various nationalities. They had relations and clashes, periods of peace and wars but it was very hard to understand that with technical revolution the planet has changed drastically. New countries, ideologies, economies appeared and people became different. The scary picture of apocalypse didn't coincide with the scenes from documentaries or books which Scarlett read. Two weeks ago Natasha insisted on going outside. Firstly, they went round Avenger's facilities to see that there was nothing to fear. Then, the woman started to invent some challenges to make the child go farther and farther from the facilities. She wanted the girl to adapt to the environment. The facilities were situated in New York near the ocean and surrounded by a small wood but still from the top of the building the lights of the cosmopolitan city as well as the noise of it could be heard and seen. So, Tony decided to continue education in his own way. That's why they called this subject "location" instead of "geography", because it was almost about the area Scarlett has been living since her rescue from Hydra's secret island.

" _Take "the bird" and let's go outside, you have a lot to do,"_ said Stark ignoring the fact that Scarlett was in the middle of the test on plants.

" _I'll finish in 10 minutes. "The bird" is over there."_ The child pointed at the machine in the far end of the classroom.

Tony gave the child a map of the city where some locations were missing. She had to use the flying machine and find all the locations but firstly, she needed to learn to fly it. Stark taught her how to overcome obstacles and not to bump into the buildings on the way and drive this "bird". It was a lot of fun. Scarlett didn't manage to finish the assignment as Vision called her to eat dinner. The Iron Man, on the other hand, was absolutely satisfied with himself and the result of this tiny experiment because unconsciously Scarlett saw the real life on the streets of the huge city and her emotional reaction to everything that was happening out there was worth seeing.

Natasha's speedy encounter with Brock Rumlow was quite short but impressive. Now after 10 hours of interrogation by the Nigerian police and their very slow "rescue" by the American ambassador the Avengers finally got on the Quinjet after retrieving their things from the hotel. The agent was exhausted. Wanda was a mess after killing those innocent citizens of Wakanda. Romanoff gave her some sedatives to relax, of course, not asking for permission. Just did her Widow thing by unexpectedly injecting the young woman the minute they stepped on the jet. Only now more than 24 hours after the mission Natasha realized that she had't eaten anything since the previous day taking care of the wounded, answering stupid questions of the police, grilling the ambassador and baby-sitting Wanda afterwards.

" _Shit! I forgot to call Scarlett."_ She cursed.

" _It's late already. Let her sleep. I spoke with Vision before the police took us. I told that everything's fine. He knows the procedure. We were on the territory of another country. He knows the procedure. He should have expected such scenario."_ Steve said tiredly looking at Natasha. He also hasn't slept yet.

Sam was already snuffling on his seat.

" _Eat something,"_ Captain America gave his partner a sandwich with ham.

The Quinjet was working on the autopilot, so, Romanoff had enough time to digest once again what went wrong today. Actually, it was more than 24 hours ago. Today was not an option anymore.

" _You know the kid was right."_ The woman pronounced after she chewed her first bite of the sandwich.

" _Right about what?"_

" _The serpent, hole, apple, everything…"_ She paused for a while. _"When Rumlow pushed me into the van, he dropped a grenade. If I hesitated, I would be torn into million pieces by "thousands of tiny snakes" as Scarlett had predicted. The same is with you. Rumlow wanted to kill you but instead innocent people died. The serpent that bit you and you started killing the others. I thought clairvoyants are charlatans. I don't know what to believe anymore."_

" _Maybe she kind of predicted the future, but I'm still talking to my partner. In conclusion, we take control of our own destiny."_ Steve replied taking a bite of his sandwich.

" _If I interpreted it right, we might have saved all those innocent people."_ She cringed.

" _You were far away from us to prevent this. You've done your job excellently by taking care of that biological weapon. I had to do something and I didn't because I didn't expect this to happen. There is no one to blame. There are things that are not in our power. We stopped one villain today who could lead to much more dramatic events, if we hadn't stopped him. This is my point of view."_ He said firmly and kept eating his sandwich. Natasha preferred to stay silent.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **Feedback from readers is still appreciated. Thank you so much for reading this non-ending story.**_


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